A former top cop has applauded Rebecca Judd for speaking out about an increase of crimes in her posh suburb of Brighton.
Speaking to The Herald Sun this week, Charlie Bezzina, who spent 37 years with Victoria Police, said influencers with large social media followings should create the ‘noise’ and ‘ripple effect’ needed to get action taken on crime issues.
‘They are influential people, they are people of some means and certainly some context, and they are listened to given their profile and position in the community,’ he said.
Well done: AFL WAG Rebecca Judd, 39, (pictured) has been praised by highly-respected former Victorian Police officer Charlie Bezzina for speaking out about Brighton crime after her fears were dismissed by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews
Bezzina is one of Vitoria Police’s most revered officers, spending 17 years as a top homicide detective.
It comes after Judd slammed the Victorian government for not doing enough to combat crime in Brighton – the upmarket suburb where she lives in a $7.3million mansion.
The brunette claimed the state government didn’t ‘seem to care’ or be doing anything about the ‘rapes, bashings and home invasions at the hands of the gangs in Bayside’.
Praise: Speaking to The Herald Sun this week, Charlie Bezzina, (pictured) who spent 37 years with Victoria Police, said influencers with large social media followings should create the ‘noise’ and ‘ripple effect’ needed to get action taken on crime issues
Responding to Judd last month, Premier Dan Andrews said: ‘I’m not interested in having an argument with Ms Judd’.
‘I’m also obliged to point out though, I think there are more than 70 additional police in the Bayside area, and the most recent crime statistics released by an independent agency would not support those sweeping assessments about patterns of crime.’
Mr Andrews said an additional 500 police officers and 50 public service officers were deployed as part of May’s state budget.
Judd clashed with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews last month after she accused his government of not doing enough to combat crime in her posh Melbourne suburb of Brighton
Mr Andrews rubbished the mother-of-four’s claims, insisting recent crime statistics in her affluent suburb of Brighton don’t support her fears
‘I say this respectfully to Bec Judd, or anybody – I don’t want anybody to feel unsafe,’ he said.
‘I’m sorry she feels that way. The data would tell a different story, but it is about personal feelings and your sense of safety.
‘I hope that knowing those things, or perhaps learning those things, puts her mind at ease.’
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Upset: Judd recently slammed Andrews’ government for not doing enough to combat ‘rapes, bashings and home invasions’ in her posh suburb
Judd lives in the sprawling mansion in Brighton in the city’s southeast with her husband, retired AFL star Chris Judd, and their four children.
Her home boasts a gym, a tennis court that can be turned into ‘a footy oval or cricket pitch’, and a magnesium salt pool.
There is also a spacious wet bar complete with a snooker table and a bar.
The good life: Judd lives in a $7.3million mansion in Brighton in the city’s southeast with her husband, retired AFL star Chris Judd (right), and their four children
Judd wrote in her Instagram post: ‘So sick of the rapes, bashings and home invasions at the hands of the gangs in Bayside.
‘I personally know two women who have experienced home invasions in Brighton in the last few weeks while they were at home.’
She reposted CCTV footage of a group of young men lurking outside properties in her affluent suburb and claimed it made her feel ‘unsafe’.
‘So sick of the rapes, bashings and home invasions at the hands of the gangs in Bayside,’ Bec wrote to Instagram
The teenagers, who were allegedly armed with knives, were filmed lurking outside several properties in the Bayside area before crashing a stolen BMW into a tree.
Liberal Brighton MP James Newbury slammed Mr Andrew’s response and labelled it a form of ‘victim blaming’.
‘How dare Daniel Andrews attack a woman because she feels unsafe…’ he told The Herald Sun last month.
‘His behaviour sounds a lot like victim blaming. There have been three home invasions in Brighton this week, a police shooting, and many more home invasions in local streets over recent months.’
Victoria Police launched Operation Ibis last week and have already arrested and charged 14 people.
Liberal Brighton MP James Newbury (pictured) slammed Mr Andrew’s response and labelled it a form of ‘victim blaming’
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