A SMASH-and-grab crime spree across Mount Eliza, Mornington and Mount Martha has shocked residents and businesses, and prompted calls for increased CCTV and police patrols on the peninsula.
About one dozen businesses were robbed between 2am and 4am on Monday 17 April, with many staff and owners arriving to work to find windows and doors smashed and cash stolen.
Mornington Peninsula Crime Investigation Unit detectives believe the crimes are linked, with cafes, milk bars, beauty salons, a clothing store and laundromat targeted.
It is believed two people known to police were captured on CCTV cameras at some of the break-ins, although police were unable to confirm this.
Dan Force, of Via Battista, Mount Martha told customers that thieves took cash drawers from his cafe, with CCTV allegedly showing one person in a car while another broke into the store.
Other business owners have posted photos of the devastation caused by the offenders.
Force said the thief worked quickly and was in and out of his store within minutes after allegedly searching for cash.
Mornington Peninsula Shire Council mayor Cr Steve Holland said the scale of the attack on local businesses was shocking and called on anyone with information to contact the police.
He is urging the state government to provide additional money for CCTV cameras so that local police “have the resources they need to deal with crimes such as this” (“Council ‘no’ to police cameras” The News 11/4/23).
The council manages a small number of older CCTV cameras in some townships, including four at Mount Martha village, but doesn’t monitor them and footage is fed straight to Victoria Police.
Monday’s incidents have led to fears that crime on the peninsula is out of control.
Crime statistics show that while assaults, residential burglaries and overall crime was down on the peninsula, between December 2021 and December 2022, some offences had increased. Aggravated residential burglaries were up 32 per cent on 2021 figures, commercial burglaries up 27.9 per cent and car theft up 58 per cent.
The Crime Statistics Agency says long term figures – which show a significant drop in all these incidents over four years – are more important to gain a comparative understanding of recent data.
Police and business leaders also say it is important not to “spread fear”, and that when comparing the data to the rest of Victoria, the peninsula is a safe place to live and work.
Owner of Mornington venue God’s Kitchen and vice-president of Mornington Chamber of Commerce, Dean McHugh, agreed there was a need for improved CCTV in business districts, but said it was important keep the incident in perspective.
“This type if incident is not something that’s the norm, and we don’t need to assume it is the start of something bigger,” he said.
Although many people believed crime was escalating, that was not necessarily backed up by data.
“We have just had meetings with the Liquor Accord, and overall criminal incidents are actually down,” he said.
McHugh said police “had done a great job” of investigating the break-ins and had identified two alleged suspects.
“Relatively speaking, the peninsula is a very safe place to live and work, and we should remember that.”
First published in the Mornington News – 25 April 2023
