Perth Voice Interactive

BAD news for West Perth residents: the chances of your house being burgled are nearly four times higher than for folk in Northbridge.

The good news is the odds of your car being stolen are only double.

At a Perth city council planning meeting this week councillor Reece Harley pointed out dire police statistics illustrating the level of crime in the area, and asked council staff to look at spreading the city’s CCTV network out West Perth way.

“Residents I’m talking to are calling for it,” Cr Harley says.

In the past year West Perth racked up 142 burglaries (Northbridge had 50) and 48 stolen cars (to Northbridge’s 26).

“Though expensive, I think we as a city need to look at expanding our [CCTV] network west and east,” Cr Harley said.

“I know that is a big cost but I think we have the financial capacity to do that.”

He said the state government could be asked to help chip in with costs, or the council could team up with owners to hook into their private CCTV networks.

Northbridge retains its title as Perth’s assault capital, with 363 over the year, a mere 10 times higher than on the means streets of West Perth.

by DAVID BELL