2 March 2015
A Star News Group Publication
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RELEASE YOUR SELF
■ Council boss calls for police to crack down on centre’s troublemakers...
Crime city bust By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS hard-won DANDENONG’S growing reputation could be tarnished if anti-social problems aren’t stamped out, Greater Dandenong City Council’s chief executive John Bennie has warned. At a council meeting on Monday last week, Mr Bennie said his preference was for a “zero tolerance” approach towards safety
and security in the precinct, listing hotspots such as Palm Plaza, the length of Lonsdale Street and “our wonderful” civic square. “The reputation and image of this activity centre will be damaged quite significantly. “If we don’t take that approach going forward, the good work of this council and our partners will be undone.” Mr Bennie said there would
be increased use of closed-circuit TV cameras to record and document behaviour that “may have breached good order and local laws”. The intent was to have the CCTV “live and monitored” to allow police to react quickly to incidents. “Our intention is to crack down fully and purposefully on those behaviours, to hopefully
eradicate them from the activity centre.” The council had recently banned public access to the civic centre’s underground car park, while it is subject to a security audit. Mr Bennie said aside from the car park, there needed to be a “broader perspective” to safety and security in the precinct. He was responding to con-
cerns raised by Councillor Peter Brown about a “threatening” group of teenagers smoking and displaying “fairly territorial behaviour” near the precinct’s library entrance last Monday. When Cr Brown asked them not to smoke, one of the young people spat a “gorby” near the councillor’s feet. Continued page 3
Men from Uncle’s are smoking guns
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BROTHERS-in-law Brendan D’Amelio and Bert Glinka, hanging country sausages in their smoke oven, quit their professional day jobs to take over the traditional Polish deli Uncle’s Smallgoods in Dandenong. For more of their story, turn to page 4. 135075 Picture: GARY SISSONS
Monday, 2 March 2015
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Man is left cuffed by fake policeman A WOULD-BE thief masquerading as a police officer has left a Dandenong man stranded in handcuffs. Greater Dandenong CIU Detective Senior Constable Jamie Cummings has asked for public help to identify the fraud, who entered a Hutton Street home about 4pm on 22 February. He produced what the victim, 25, believed was a police badge, told him he was under arrest for attempted murder and handcuffed him. “We’re not sure if it’s a legitimate Victoria Police badge of if it’s a fake,” Sen Const Cummings said. The intruder warned the victim’s distressed mother not to call police. “He’s then searched through the house,” Sen Const Cummings said. “It appears he’s left empty-handed after the victim’s refused to provide him a combination to a safe. The victim has got a taxi to the Dandenong Police Station where he’s walked into the watch house of the Dandenong Police Station in cuffs.” Fire crews cut him free. The offender was 185 centimetres tall with solid build and spoke with a Turkish accent or similar. To view an image of the man go to dandenong. starcommunity.com.au. - Casey Neill
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