Peter Wright was elected as the new chairperson of the Bedfordview CPF on April 7.
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He said that although he has big shoes to fill in his five-year term he was ready for the challenge.
As a long-standing member of the BCPF, he understands the internal workings of the forum and hopes to use his experience to keep community safety simple.
“I joined the CPF in 2015 after a crime wave in upper Bedfordview. I started by donating my services and then volunteering my time before serving as secretary.
“At the time we conducted several audits in the community and by working closely with a number of organisations and businesses we were able to bring the crime down.
“My background is in IT, which has now become more entrepreneurial. I’ve been married to ZsuZso for 13 years and as a family of five with our two children and a dog,” Peter said.
His Bedfordview roots saw Peter spend his teenage years in McFarlane Road.
“Our home is now in Bawden Road and the two businesses I’m a partner in are in Bedfordview. My children have attended the local schools and nursery schools.”
He hopes to lead a team that will take accountability and ownership of various projects initiated by the CPF.
“I want to make sure that no one is left isolated.”
He said one of his team’s first objectives was to get several areas of compliance right.
“We need to work with what we have and I know we have a lot to do. We have grand plans for a number of projects in our first 100 days but through it all we want to show accountability and transparency,” Peter said.
“We have a strong team and we have the energy and drive to get it done. We want to be less operationally focused and more strategic. We have to remember that we are not security personnel or police officers. We are community volunteers.”
He said the CPF has processes that need to be followed.
“Many of the patrollers don’t fully understand their mandates and operating procedures. We need to spend time regulating our processes and getting people organised. We sit with a problem with Sector 3 as we need more support.
“The previous turmoil needs to be stabilised and we need to address a lawless element. The patrollers do amazing work in the communities of Sector 3 but each of them is so isolated in their communities,” Peter said.
“We need a unified CPF that works as one structure.”
He said the community must remember that if they want to report something to the CPF, whether bribery or officers stepping out of line, a case number is needed. “Without a case number, the complaint is just a rumour.”
He said everyone in the community can contribute to the CPF.
“You can be part of things we do even if its one hour a month or 20 minutes a week. If you cannot be physically available, a financial contribution to one of our projects would help.
“We have to get involved, personally, to protect ourselves and our families,” Peter said.
Five fun facts about Peter
• For the sake of tradition, he asked his father-in-law to marry his daughter, in Hungarian. “He was so excited that I knew the correct words that he never actually answered me.”
• He supports the Stormers. “It’s a source of fun for my friends.”
• The single longest job he ever had was one year and one week. “I started my own business 20 years ago. My boss is still an idiot.”
• He doesn’t own an air fryer.
• He has two pre-teen children, a daughter and a son. “Actually, that’s not much fun. They’re for sale or hire if anyone wants them.”
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