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Police and youth workers are working together on a project to support and unite the Berkeley community.
The first six months of the Berkeley Community Unite Project have seen some positive results but an alleged assault last Wednesday highlighted why police felt compelled to increase their presence.
It happened just hours after the Advertiser dropped by Berkeley Neighbourhood Centre to talk to Lake Illawarra Local Area Command crime prevention officer Mark Scott, fellow police officer Scott Burgess and senior youth worker Raschelle Sherwood.
Senior Constable Scott said the aim of the Berkeley Community Unite Project was to create confidence in the community and reduce the fear of crime.
The project came about because of prolonged issues in Berkeley, particularly involving young kids getting into trouble.
"While the project targets children aged 12 to 18, overall we are trying to address issues for the entire community," Snr Const Scott said.
"A lot of the older community have concerns about being out and about in the night. Their fear of crime is affecting the way they move about in the community so we are trying to address those issues for them and we have to engage the kids to do that. It is a holistic approach."
He said a recent survey conducted by the police in conjunction with the Department of Housing revealed the community needed more services and facilities.
"Facilities to help combat issues arising from high unemployment, alcohol and drug-related issues,’’ Snr Const Scott said.
‘‘We need to be able to address these issues but we can’t do it all ourselves so we’ve included the Department of Housing and Health to try and help us help the community.’’
Snr Const Scott said police had spent 147 hours in Berkeley from June to September 9 to meet as many residents as possible and provide details of how police could assist them with support networks, agencies and community groups, as well as give them confidence to report incidents and seek advice.
‘‘We will saturate the area with police for an hour or two twice a week to let the community know we are there to help.
‘‘But we need people to come to us if they have any issues. A lot of the issues that were brought up in the survey were issues that police hadn’t been contacted about enough.
‘‘The perception of crime from the residents was much higher than what actually had been reported. So we need people to report crime to be able to deal with it.
‘‘We need to have a true vision of what’s going on to be able to resource it and deal with it properly and effectively.’’
Senior Constable Scott Burgess said his role as youth liaison officer was to engage the youth to keep them off the streets.
He said the fact Berkeley was so far from Lake Illawarra PCYC presented some transport issues for youngsters.
Berkeley Neighbourhood Centre senior youth worker Raschelle Sherwood encouraged the whole community to come into the centre and take advantage of its support programs.