By GEORGIA WESTGARTH AND ANEEKA SIMONIS
WHEN it comes to contempt for law enforcement officers, Casey isn’t far behind Dandenong’s excessive assault figures.
Victoria Police crime statistics show a disturbing rate of assaults on paramedics, police and protective services officers (PSOs) across Casey, Dandenong and Cardinia.
Last year, there were 240 reported cases of police assault in the region.
Exactly half of the assaults occurred in the Greater Dandenong area, which recorded 121 police-targeted attacks.
Casey recorded 97 police assaults while Cardinia recorded almost a fifth of that total with 22 assault reports.
Paramedics were also a target for assault last year.
Five emergency workers in Dandenong reported being assaulted on the job and a further three assault reports were lodged in the Casey region.
Alarmingly, paramedic abuse and assault rates jumped by almost a quarter in the past five years to the extent that some homes are now ‘blacklisted’ – not to be entered before police arrived on scene.
The majority of those homes are located in the south-east, including Dandenong (34), Cranbourne (22), Noble Park (15), Hampton Park (11), Narre Warren (10) and Pakenham (9).
PSOs also got hit with a fair whack of abuse.
The data recorded 47 assaults against PSOs within the outer south east region – 36 reports in Dandenong, 10 reports in Casey and a single report in Cardinia.
Assault categorised under Section 31 of the Crimes Act 1958 takes in actions that intentionally or recklessly injure or insult a person or deprive them of their liberty.
Statistics show the rate of assault against emergency workers including police and ambulance staff in the region jumped 53 per cent in the past five years.
