Police and safety officers to patrol shopping centres until the end of the year
Protective service officers and off-duty police officers will continue to patrol suburban shopping centers until the end of the year to deter violence and curb anti-social behaviour.
Prime Minister Jacinta Allan will announce on Sunday that patrols in shopping centers such as Northland, Eastland, Highpoint and Fountain Gate will continue until the end of December, following a successful 90-day trial that began in December last year.
“We put police and PSOs where the problems are, protecting you where you shop, where you work and where you spend time,” he said.
As part of the trial, called Operation Pulse, officers laid 971 charges, arrested 452 people, seized more than 100 weapons and carried out 3,800 vehicle checks. The original trial cost $2.3 million and the government has allocated a budget of $6.5 million for the trial to continue until 2026.
A survey conducted by the Shopping Center Council of Australia (SCCA) in a shopping mall participating in the trial revealed that 84 per cent of customers felt safer while shopping.
According to the council’s figures, there was a 73 per cent year-on-year drop in retail theft stock losses in January and a 50 per cent drop in violence in December.
SCCA chief executive Angus Nardi said it was a real and effective partnership between police, PSOs and industry.
“The community is at the heart of our shopping centers and the extension of Operation Pulse is a welcome measure that will help ensure community safety,” he said.
He said proactive and early interventions by police officers helped detect suspicious behavior, de-escalate incidents and catch criminals.
Northland was the scene of graphic violence in May last year when members of rival youth gangs armed with machetes attacked each other in a wild fight, and again in June when a man drove a stolen car into a shopping centre.
Shifts at the mall are on top of existing patrols, which police and PSOs volunteer to participate in.
In November, the government scrapped the Baillieu-era policy of having PSOs at every train station on the suburban network overnight to make way for PSOs patrolling shopping centres.
Instead, PSOs are stationed at 32 stations from 9 a.m. until the last service, and the other 72 stations are staffed with officers from 5 p.m. until the last train. In the remaining 120 “low crime” stations, officers work in mobile groups, with each team moving between six stations.
Police Minister Anthony Carbines said the use of police and PSO in shopping malls was yielding results.
“Victoria Police stops crime before it starts, intervenes quickly and removes dangerous weapons before they are used.”
The government first floated the idea of expanding the use of PSO seven years ago, when it was under pressure to respond to the city’s latest crime crisis, which focused on a wave of home invasions, carjackings and other crimes in the south-eastern and western suburbs.
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Caroline Schelle is an education reporter and joined The Age in 2022. He had previously served in courts in AAP.Connect with: X or email.
