Philip hosts Community Crime Forum in Perth's Northern Suburbs

15th April, 2019

As the President of the Lions Club of Whitford, and previously a Board and WA State Director of the Australian Lions Drug Awareness Foundation (ALDAF), I'm involved with many government, charitable, community, sporting groups, associations and individuals, and a common complaint I hear is the increasing crime and anti-social behaviour being experienced by our community across Western Australia.

Likewise, after an increase in crime and anti-social behavior in Perth's northern suburbs earlier this year, I organised a Community Forum with the assistance of Police, Politicians, Council, Lions and my local community. The timing of the forum was due to dangerous and concerning trends being identified with residents fed up, threatening retaliation and preparing to take matters into their own hands.

Invited to attend this forum were:
   -  City of Wanneroo Mayor Tracey Roberts;
   -  Senior Sargent Simon Hazzell, Officer in Charge, Wanneroo Police;
   -  Senior Sargent Brendan Moore, Officer in Charge, Warwick Police;
   -  Michelle Roberts MLA, Minister for Police, Road Safety;
   -  Peter Katsambanis MLA, Shadow Minister for Police, Road Safety and Industrial Relations;
   -  Dr Anne Ally MP, Federal Member for Cowan; and
   -  Margaret Quirk MLA, Member for Girrawheen.

All except the Minister for Police Michelle Roberts attended this forum, and the community was able to seek answers to their questions from those present. I was also able to work with and advocate on the community's behalf with Police, council, mayors and politicians on the concerns of the public.

I would also like to personally thank my very good friend and fellow Lions Club of Whitford member Peter Katsambanis MLA, Shadow Minister for Police, Road Safety and Industrial Relations for his support of both our community and myself with this forum.

Personally, I'm very proud of our Police who do a great job protecting our community and in keeping us all safe. Our Police however also need our support, as they need to be adequately resourced and provided with the tools, equipment and materials they need to do their job, in addition to my calls for a worker's compensation scheme to protect our officers in their time of need.

Our community demands a zero-tolerance approach to crime, and together with our Police, its incumbent on us all to get tough on crime to create a strong, safe and secure community.

Philip Couper