Evidence of this is clear in Pyrenees Shire, where police and other stakeholders have been working closely with the community during the last couple of years in an effort to address the community's crime concerns.

In late 2018, the Pyrenees Voice Campaign was launched. It involved police attending markets and other community events in an effort to talk with the community and learn about its crime concerns.

A survey was conducted, which almost 400 residents responded to. While the majority of respondents indicated they felt Pyrenees was a safe place, they revealed that farm and livestock theft, family violence, dangerous driving and road safety were their biggest concerns.

They also indicated they wanted a stronger connection with their local police officers. Following this, the Pyrenees Community Safety Advisory Group was established in mid-2019.

Pyrenees local area commander, Inspector Dan Davison, said it had become evident through the campaign that there needed to be more collaboration with other stakeholders with an interest in community safety - so the advisory group had been established.

The group was created so police could work collaboratively with other stakeholders to achieve the best community safety outcomes.

It is comprised of members of Victoria Police, Pyrenees Shire Council, the Department of Justice and Community Safety, the Department of Health and Human Services, Women's Health Grampians, Regional Roads Victoria along with local schools and health services.

It is now a year since the group was developed and since then there has been continued collaboration between key stakeholders and the community, with proactive work with the community undertaken.

One campaign to be rolled out by the group was the Rural Safety and Security 'We're In It Together' campaign, which was rolled out late last year. The campaign was created in response to farm crime being one of the biggest concerns for residents and through it, police have taken to the streets and even to the saleyards to encourage residents to increase security at their properties and to report thefts from farms to police for investigation - no matter how small.

Inspector Davison said the campaign was the majority of the first 12 months of work, and it was not finished yet.

"Once COVID-19 restrictions ease, we will get back out in the community and continue to push the message around target hardening and raising awareness of other crime prevention strategies that the community can put in place so they don't become a target of criminals," he said.

While COVID-19 has restricted the group from meeting in person and has prevented community barbecues and other engagement activities from being hosted, the group has continued to engage online to ensure it is working towards the goals set out in its terms of reference.

Inspector Davison said the group was continuing to work "feverishly behind the scenes" to address community safety issues, such as family violence.

While the overall number of offences recorded in Pyrenees in the year ending March 2020 decreased by 11.4 per cent since the previous year, there is one offence that has risen sharply.

According to the latest data released by the Crime Statistics Agency, breaching a family violence order has increased considerably.

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The number of breaches increased by 81 per cent - from 60 in the year ending March 2019, to 109 in the year ending March 2020.

Inspector Davison said addressing the potential triggers of family violence, such as the use of alcohol and other drugs within the community as well as mental health concerns, was a major focus of the group.

"We hope that by having a focus on the drivers of family violence that we will drive it down in the long-term, while increasing the breach of justice procedures."

Inspector Davison said the growth, as reflected in the statistics, could also be due to an increase in reporting by community members. He said it could be reflective of an increased confidence that police will take a report seriously, and hold the offender to account.

Meanwhile, the majority of community consultation has been with residents aged 60+, so going forward the group will be looking to engage with other age groups, such as youth. Inspector Davison said engaging with the many youth living across Pyrenees was on the cards, so the group could better understand what their safety concerns are and how they can be addressed.

He said working with the community to address their concerns was "pivotal".

"A community that's consulted will feel ownership over issues in their community and will do what they can to support our work."

Inspector Davison said this feeling of ownership not only helped police to help the community - such as through explaining crime prevention strategies - but also meant the community was more likely to get on board and make changes to reduce the likelihood of becoming a victim of crime.

And it seems the community engagement is working. Inspector Davison said that during the last 12 months, there had been an increase in information reports flowing through from the community.

"Having this group up and running really does provide that confidence to the community that all stakeholders are really keen to listen to and rectify any community safety concerns that are out there in the community."

Stakeholders within the group are continuing to look for opportunities to fund better infrastructure and other crime prevention initiatives in the community, and are keen to hear the ideas of community members.

Inspector Davison urged people to continue to report community safety concerns to police or council.

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