Community Safety Service (CSS)
1300 653 643 CSS 24/7 hotline 000 emergencies
131 444 non-urgent police attendance 1800 333 000 Crime Stoppers
The Community Safety Service (CSS) is a highly visible, 24-hour mobile patrol service, acting as extra eyes and ears for the community and police
Call us any time on 1300 653 643 if you want the CSS to attend to observe and report suspicious behaviour to the police. Please report criminal matters straight to the police on 131 444 or 000 if it’s an emergency.
- Provides high visibility patrols to observe, monitor and report suspicious behaviour to police.
- Provides a holiday watch patrol service for residents’ properties while they are away, at no extra cost.
- Patrols hot spot areas to deter criminal activity.
- Provides police with information that may be used to convict offenders or assist in investigations.
- Provides advice and information on safety and crime prevention.
- Detects and reports graffiti, vandalism and abandoned vehicles.
- Assists the State Emergency Service during storms
CSS Goals and Objectives
We often get queries from the community about what the Community Safety Service (CSS) does and how we measure the effectiveness of the service. The table below captures how the CSS contributes to our broader goals and how we measure the success of our efforts.
| Our Goals (from the 2017-2021 Safer Melville Plan) | This can be achieved by...(objectives) | We can support this by...(tactics) | Indicators that inform us are... (key performance indicators) |
|---|
Reduce Household Crime Reduce Business Crime Safe and Secure Places and Environments People Feel Safe and Secure in all Places at all Times | Providing targeted and timely intelligence/evidence based patrols | Conducting hotspot and extra patrols | Conduct random checks for hotspot patrols |
|---|
| Conducting holiday patrols | Number of properties utilising holiday watch services |
| Observing, reporting and providing information to relevant agencies in a timely manner | Conducting hotspot and extra patrols | Conduct random checks of hotspot patrols |
| Providing calling cards | Number of education initiatives identified |
| Providing intelligence reports to police | Number of intelligence reports provided to police by the CSS |
| Logging graffiti and maintenance issues for removal and repair | Number of graffiti and maintenance reports submitted |
| Conducting security audits | Number of security audits conducted |
What does the jargon mean?
- Hotspot patrols - are patrols to areas predefined by daily information from police. This is effective in addressing specific issues at identified locations. The random checks conducted to measure this look at the quality of patrol, patrolling pattern, time spent, identification of homes that may benefit from home safety checklists, possible security audits, and reports of any suspicious persons/vehicles.
- Holiday patrols - Residents who register will have their property patrolled regularly by CSS during the day and night while they are away.
- Calling cards - CSS officers will leave a calling card after a holiday patrol with a reference number. Residents can call us and quote this number and we can tell them anything we noted about their property whilst they were away. CSS officers also drop calling cards to properties who haven't registered for holiday patrols. These contain crime prevention tips to improve the safety and security of your property.
- Security audits - CSS officers conduct audits of various areas and apply Designing Out Crime Principles to provide recommendations to improve safety and security.
Working closely with the police
The Community Safety Service works closely with local police, exchanging information on a daily basis with Murdoch and Palmyra police stations. Information from the police is used to target patrols or resources to hot spot areas to help deter crime and gather information. We also share information back to them to help with their investigations.
For security and peace of mind, you can register your property for a Community Safety Service Holiday Watch Patrol at no extra cost. Our community safety service officers will patrol your property regularly during the day and night while you’re away.
Register for a Holiday Watch Patrol or call the CSS on 1300 653 643.
SARA model and CPTED audits
Aside from being visibly present, the Community Safety Service does a lot of behind-the-scenes work in your community to help improve the safety and security of your local neighbourhood. This includes using the Scanning, Analysis, Response and Assessment (SARA) model to assess crime problems and find ways to address them in a resource-efficient way, and conducting Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) audits to assess crime hotspots and suggest ways to change the physical environment to prevent the opportunity for crime.
If you’ve received a calling card, the Community Safety Service has attended or noticed a residential alarm or security-related concern on your property during a patrol. A calling card is also left by the CSS after the last patrol of your property if you have registered for Holiday Watch. For more information, call the CSS on 1300 653 643.
Latest News: CSS receives top marks in mobile community patrol
The Community Safety Service (CSS) has received top marks in an independent, desktop review of the service by a Murdoch University Criminology graduate. The City engaged the graduate to do the review in an effort to identify areas of improvement as part of implementation of the International Safe Communities Framework.
The review found the CSS innovative in regards to the extent of their relationships with external agencies, the range of services provided, and the methods for collecting data related to crime and community safety. It also found that the CSS takes a ‘proactive, multi-dimensional approach to community safety and crime prevention’ and that it is one of the best mobile community patrol services operated by a local government in Western Australia.
The report did identify some areas for improvement and the CSS has made these changes to further improve the service:
- Exchanging information on a daily basis with local police stations instead of weekly, allowing targeted patrols or resources to hot spot areas to help deter crime and gather information.
- Introducing ‘Calling Cards’ to let residents know when the CSS has been by their property, either during a planned Holiday Watch patrol or because of security related concerns on their property.
- Training its officers on new crime-prevention tactics that enable them to assess crime problems, find ways to address them in a resource-efficient way and suggest ways to change the physical environment to prevent the opportunity for crime.
Download the full report