MARCH 26, 2019 \ STARWEEKLY.COM.AU
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Brimbank crime rate up By Tate Papworth Crime rates rose by 11 per cent across Brimbank in the year to December, 2018, new figures show. Data released by the Crime Statistics agency last week reveals a total on 19,045 criminal offences were recorded across the municipality in that period, a jump from the 17,150 recorded in the year to December, 2017. Acting Inspector Terry West said a spike in justice procedure offences was the main reason for the jump. “We’ve had an increase in breaches of orders, which relates to bail offences and breaches of intervention orders,” he said. He linked the rise in breaches, which jumped from 2421 offences to 3067, with a concerted effort by police to crack down on domestic violence.
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Fast work by cube dude
We’re seeing more people reporting these cases - Terry West
(Luke Hemer)
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“Stalking and harassment numbers jumped from 353 to 511, which is consistent with what we’ve seen since the introduction of our dedicated family violence investigative team,” he said. “We’re seeing more people reporting these cases, which obviously raises the numbers and translates to breach of orders such as intervention orders.” Crimes against the person showed a 3.4 per cent spike. Police have begun targeting assaults and robberies at transport hubs in recent months, and Acting Inspector West admitted it was an ongoing problem. “It’s a constant issue around transport hubs,” he said. “We find that because they’re so busy and have a large volume of traffic coming through them, that we see spikes. We’re definitely working closely on the issue.” Another area Brimbank police have focused on is petrol theft. “We began targeting petrol theft in Brimbank about nine months ago after a successful program which was run in Melton,” Acting Inspector West said. “It’s certainly bearing fruit, particularly in catching recidivist offenders … we expect that to be represented in an increase in recorded incidents going forward.” There was also good news in the Brimbank police’s war on drugs, with recorded offences across the municipality rising by just 12.
A Rubik’s cube can frustrate people for hours – yet for St Albans student Calven Lipec, it’s a 10-second problem. Calven recently attended the Interschool Rubik’s Cube Competition, held as part of the Arnold Sports Festival at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre. He took out first place in the 3 x 3 and the 2 x 2 competition, averaging 11.28 seconds to solve the 3 x 3 cube and 3.5 seconds for the 2 x 2. Calven said his success came as a bit of a surprise. “I didn’t think I’d win it, but I thought I was in with a chance,” he said. While he may look like a natural with the cube, Calven practices for an hour a day. “I first picked up a cube when I found one lying around when we were moving house,” he said. “I was bored, so I started to learn it. Ever since, I’ve wanted to become faster – to be the best in the world. “My first solve took me 22 minutes, which I managed to cut down to a minute and now it takes me seconds.” Calven’s main goal is to get his average solve time down to five seconds ahead of the world championships in July. He said his school, Catholic Regional College St Albans, had played a major part in his journey. “The school has been so supportive of me – they even started a cube club a few weeks back and we got about 20 people to our first meeting,” he said. “I hope we can keep it going – it’s a lot of fun.” Tate Papworth