Brighton Bayside Melbourne to get new police station if Liberals elected: Footy WAG Bec Judd

One of Melbourne’s most exclusive suburbs is set to receive a new police station if the opposition win the upcoming election – after AFL WAG Bec Judd complained she felt ‘unsafe’ in her $7.3million mansion.

The wife of footy legend Chris Judd in May sparked uproar when she announced on social media she felt uneasy in her lavish estate in the city’s wealthy Bayside suburb of Brighton.

The glamorous WAG said the Victorian Government didn’t ‘seem to care’ about the ‘rapes, bashings and home invasions at the hands of the gangs in Bayside’.

Victorian Liberal politician and opposition police spokesman Brad Battin has promised to build a new police station in the area should his party win the upcoming state election this November.

‘A Brighton police shop front will become an integral part of the community, decrease incident response times, play an important part in reducing crime and increase community protection,’ Mr Battin said.

‘The Liberals and Nationals have real solutions to ensure crime prevention and the safety of communities in Victoria.’

Judd made headlines for her outlandish claims when she pointed to various statistics to back up her arguments that a terrifying crime wave was gripping her affluent suburb.

Premier Andrews dismissed her social media comments as ‘sweeping assessments’ and insisted: ‘I’m sorry she feels that way. The data would tell a different story.’

Crime statistics for the area reveal a more complicated pictured than either of their assertions, and a new police task force has been formed to tackle rising youth crime.

Certain crimes in the area have noticeably increased over the past 10 years and hit record highs, with home break-ins quadrupling since 2014 and aggravated robberies at their highest in five years.

However, Bayside has the second-lowest overall crime rate in Melbourne, with just 4,300 offences per 100,000 population – down more than 24 per cent on 2020 – compared to more than 10,000 offences per 100,000 in the similarly wealthy suburbs around nearby Toorak.

Bayside Local Area Commander Inspector Cath Wilkins admitted to The Australian that there ‘has been an increase in offences recently’.

But she said that while the suburb had ‘seen a number of serious incidents recently, Bayside remains an overwhelmingly safe place to live.’ 

Judd maintained crime was worsening in her neighbourhood and credited her attack on Mr Andrews with the creation of the new police taskforce.

‘I’m glad my voice has shone a light on the escalating aggravated burglaries in Bayside,’ Judd claimed to The Australian.

‘[While] we are thankful for low non-aggressive crime rates, the increasing nature of home invasion-type crimes in our local community is what makes residents, particularly women, feel unsafe.

‘I welcome Operation Ibis and the extra 500 police promised to the people of Victoria.’

Ms Judd triggered the storm when she posted details of recent home invasions in the area on Instagram.

‘I personally know two women who have experienced home invasions in Brighton in the last few weeks while they were at home,’ she said.

She reposted CCTV footage of a group of young men lurking outside properties in her affluent suburb and claimed it made her feel ‘unsafe’.

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.

Mr Andrews insisted the crime statistics did not back up her claims though and said he was ‘not interested in having an argument with Ms Judd’.

But he added: ‘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.

‘I say this respectfully to Bec Judd, or anybody – I don’t want anybody to feel unsafe. 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.’