Protective services officers and off-duty police officers will continue to patrol suburban shopping centres until the end of the year to deter violence and curb anti-social behaviour.
Premier Jacinta Allan will on Sunday announce continued patrols at shopping centres such as Northland, Eastland, Highpoint and Fountain Gate until the end of December, after a successful 90-day trial that started in December, last year.
“We’re putting police and PSOs where the problems are, protecting you where you shop, work and spend time,” she said.
As part of the trial, dubbed Operation Pulse, officers laid 971 charges, made 452 arrests, seized more than 100 weapons and carried out 3800 vehicle checks. The original trial cost $2.3 million, and the government has budgeted $6.5 million to keep it running through 2026.
A survey carried out by the Shopping Centre Council of Australia (SCCA) at a shopping centre that took part in the trial found 84 per cent of customers felt safer while they were shopping.
There was a 73 per cent drop in retail theft stock loss in January, year-on-year, as well as a 50 per cent drop in violent events during December, according to the council’s figures.
Chief executive of SCCA Angus Nardi said it was a genuine and effective partnership between the police, PSOs and the industry.
“The community is at the heart of our shopping centres, and the extension of Operation Pulse is a welcome measure to help ensure community safety,” he said.
He said officers’ proactive and early interventions helped identify suspicious behaviour, de-escalate incidents and intercept offenders.
Northland was the scene of graphic violence last year when rival youth gang members armed with machetes hacked at each other in a wild brawl in May, and again in June, when a man drove a stolen car through the shopping centre.
The shopping centre shifts are on top of existing patrols, with police and PSOs volunteering to take part.
To accommodate PSOs patrolling shopping centres, in November the government scrapped the Baillieu-era policy of having them at every train station in the suburban network overnight.
Instead, PSOs are present at 32 stations from 9am until last service, and another 72 have officers from 5pm until the last train. In the remaining “low-crime rate” 120 stations, officers operate in mobile clusters, with each team moving between six stations.
Police Minister Anthony Carbines said the use of police and PSOs at shopping centres delivered results.
“Victoria Police is stopping crime before it begins, responding quickly and removing dangerous weapons before they can be used.”
The government first raised the idea of expanding of its use of PSOs seven years ago when it was under pressure to respond to the city’s latest crime crisis, which centred on a spate of home invasions, carjackings and other crimes in the south-east and western suburbs.
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Caroline Schelle is an education reporter, and joined The Age in 2022. She previously covered courts at AAP.Connect via X or email.
