Police apologise to traumatised home invasion victim over slow response, admit mistakes were made

Victoria Police has admitted mistakes were made in the response to a triple zero call reporting an aggravated burglary.

Karen*, told 3AW yesterday that three hooded men tried to force their way to her home in Melbourne’s north-west in the early hours of June 6.

She called police, but they took five hours to respond.

Just two weeks later, on June 20, she arrived home to find a door smashed and valuables stolen. Police took two hours to respond to this robbery.

Superintendent David Jones admitted Victoria Police made mistakes in its response.

“Our response could have and should have been better,” he told 3AW’s Tony Jones.

Mr Jones said police did patrol the area soon after receiving a call about the June 6 incident, but administrative errors led to a failure to attend the home.

“The victim’s initial call was classified as a priority two suspicious loiter, and the job was marked that the caller did not want to see the police,” he said.

“The attending police unit has patrolled around the area looking for the fleeing offenders. They did not attend the victims premises.”

Five hours after the incident, police attended the property to complete a follow up report.

Mr Jones said he has personally apologised to Karen, and said Victorians shouldn’t be dissuaded from calling triple zero if they’re in need.

“We got this one wrong but across the board we do respond well and we do respond quickly,” he said.

“The community should have faith in Victoria Police.”

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Victim of not one, but two, home invasions in two weeks feels ‘let down’ by police

 

It’s not the first time police have made this mistake.

On June 2, police failed to attend an attempted home invasion in Point Cook, citing a miscommunication between police and the emergency call centre as the reason for the non-attendance.

In May, police also failed to attend an Apollo Bay home, after an occupant of the house caught a man trying to break in through the dog door.

Family left fearing for safety as police fail to turn up to attempted home invasion

*Karen is not the victims real name.