EASTERN suburbs police and business owners met on Wednesday morning to discuss the revival of the Safer Midland initiative aimed at improving accountability and reducing crime in the eastern suburbs.

The meeting was hosted by the Swan Chamber of Commerce, bringing together officers from multiple stations across the districts in Swan, Mundaring and Kalamunda to reconnect with the business community and encourage reporting of antisocial behaviour.

Safer Midland began three years ago as a joint effort with police and Midland CBD businesses to tackle street crime and improve perceptions of the area as reported in Safer Midland initiative helps fight against crime.

Swan Chamber chief executive officer Tom Smilovitis said the idea was initially to make Midland feel ‘walk-through safe’ as its reputation for being a rougher area was hard to shake.

“This is not a social media group,” he said.

“We don’t want your opinions.

“We just want you to report.”

Mr Smilovitis said reporting spikes were not a bad thing, but a sign that people were telling the truth and painting an accurate picture about what was happening around them.

“Now that seems negative - it’s not negative,” he said.

“It’s creating a reality of what’s really going on.

“People were getting arrested and in order to create a safe community, you’ve got to make sure that people are arrested for doing the wrong thing and then at the same time we as a chamber, we work with ex-prisoners.

“We work with all sorts of social groups so it’s not a one-pronged answer.

“It’s a multi-pronged answer and if we create the nice net, which this is a part of, I believe this is enough to make such a huge difference in the eastern corridor of Perth by a very simple principle of accountability.”

Midland Acting Superintendent Jeff Beros said building better links with businesses was a key goal for the police going forward.

“The whole idea of this is to work with business,” he said.

“There’s four things that my district want to go by.

“People and partnerships, and that equals performance.

“But the other P that I really focus on is positivity.”

Supt Beros introduced his team of senior officers from the six stations across Midland, Ballajura, Kiara, Ellenbrook, Forrestfield and Mundaring, as well as detectives and family violence specialists.

He also gave an update on a recent incident where an officer was seriously injured in Ellenbrook after a routine traffic stop where teenagers accelerated while the officer was holding on.

Supt Beros said the officer had been discharged after four to five days in Royal Perth Hospital and was now recovering at home with his wife and young son.

When asked by Echo News whether police had the resources to make the most of the Safer Midland initiative, Supt Beros said the district was probably one of the most flushed with resources across the metropolitan area.

“To answer that question, yeah, I think we do have enough,” he said.

“But if they’re going to offer me more, I’d take another 50, no question.”

He said new tools were also helping police respond more effectively to crime.

“And there’s other things and other initiatives and tools that are going to help us do our job a lot better.”

Supt Beros pointed to new V-Grid video feeds and automated number plate recognition (ANPR) technology being used across the district.

“If there’s an incident at a skate park, we can actually tap in now to look at it live to see what’s going on and it gives us a good scene appreciation,” he said.

He said ANPR technology had already helped track down suspects and solve major crimes.

“If we had a lot more ANPRs, obviously it’s going to reap rewards not only for a fast resolution but some quick action.”

He also urged businesses to improve their camera angles and continue reporting incidents.

“Assaults on retail workers just won’t tolerate - It’s unacceptable,” he said.

Supt Beros said some businesses were unsure how to report after changes to WA Police’s online system, but encouraged them to call if in doubt.

“We want you to report it because we want to get on top of it and help you guys.”

The event ended with a call for businesses to stay connected, use the WhatsApp group, and keep building trust with police.