Late last year, a man held scissors to the throat of a woman as she sat in my local park eating lunch. In broad daylight, the man assaulted her, and then drove off with her car. Vicious crimes are now happening in the places where we once felt safe. Is there any wonder why Victorians are living in fear?

And unfortunately, people increasingly feel like politicians don't understand what's happening on the ground, let alone have faith they can fix the things that are broken.

A high speed chase in Melbourne's CBD has ended when a white Commodore allegedly smashed into parked cars in Southbank. Credit:Paul Harris

To me, solving the crime problem seems simple: the government needs to invest more in law and order; we need to ask what effect shutting suburban police stations and moving police into regional complexes has had on community policing; we have to make the sentencing regime tougher, especially on repeat offenders; and we need to tackle the mentality that prioritises criminals' rights over the rights of victims, because it encourages disrespect for authority. Perhaps we also need to look at other lateral ideas too. As most train stations are next to main streets, why shouldn't we look at allowing PSOs off stations to patrol?

As a community, we have had a gutful of criminals' rights. That is why people are increasingly incensed by media reports that a small minority of immigrants are committing some of the worst crimes. Victorians have big hearts, but they will not tolerate people who have no respect for the community that has welcomed them.