City of Melbourne told community safety officer Joel to ‘not be afraid to use force’. Then they fired him
Melbourne Lord Mayor Nick Reece’s landmark plan to improve security in the city is in disarray, with community safety officers left morale low due to confusion over their powers.
Community safety officers (NGOs) were commissioned by the City of Melbourne Council in October to “deter antisocial behavior and connect people with the support they need” and were instructed to remove homeless people gathering outside CBD buildings and use force if necessary.
But former officer Joel Owen said the council’s heavy-handed approach to the issue was damaging the morale of the NGO team, who were increasingly worried about officers’ own safety after being attacked with hammers, chains and other weapons.
Owen, who is currently on stress leave, was sacked by the council in February after being accused of pushing an erratically beggar outside Flinders Street Station in December.
But in a series of emails sent to the council and seen by this imprint, Owen claims he was following a directive from his managers.
He insists his response was “reasonable, proportionate and consistent with my training and responsibilities as a community safety officer,” according to a Feb. 26 email.
“You make this decision [to dismiss Owen] It is based on our commitment to maintaining a safe and respectful environment for all individuals, including vulnerable members of our community.
“How about providing a safe and respectful environment for your staff? Community safety officers are deployed into volatile, drug-affected, unpredictable environments with no means of defense and limited protection.”
Owen did not deny pushing the man, but said he was forced to do so to protect himself and his partner and repeated attempts to deescalate the situation were unsuccessful.
According to another email obtained by this imprint, it said a senior council coordinator instructed the NGO team that they “should not be afraid to use force when giving ‘Continue’ instructions to individuals, including beggars or people sleeping or sitting in front of building lines.” There is no suggestion that Reece was aware of or consented to this directive.
Owen said the instruction was given to officers at a briefing in December and increased tensions among the city’s sleepers and contributed to a series of violent clashes.
Another email read: “Morale in the NGO program is currently extremely poor. A manager has resigned. Many NGOs are re-evaluating their future. Staff fear the same thing will happen to them if they defend themselves in volatile situations.”
Owen also accused the council of “showing off” by manipulating statistics on interactions between the public and NGOs.
“Someone can ask us where the tram stop to St Kilda is and this will be included as an interaction and used by Reece as justification for his strategy,” Owen said.
He said they were frequently deployed to some of Melbourne’s safest areas to convince ratepayers of the benefits of the programme.
“We would often be sent out to East Melbourne on Saturdays to keep the locals happy. But it was pointless. Nothing would happen and it was a complete waste of time and money. Same goes for Docklands. You could run around naked and no one would see you,” Owen said.
The departure of police officers and a drop in morale, often referred to as the “Reece police,” is a major blow to the $2 million plan Reece has championed during his 2024 re-election campaign.
When launching the program last October, Reece declared it would be “the biggest change to security and policing in Victoria since protective service officers were deployed at railway stations a decade ago”.
The imprint confirmed the council intends to expand the programme, planning to increase the number of teams from 11 to 22 and has allocated a further $1.7 million in the draft 2026-27 budget.
“Our community safety officers make a real difference on Melbourne’s streets, supporting vulnerable people and intervening early to prevent antisocial behaviour,” a City of Melbourne spokesperson said in a statement..
Salvation Army commander Brendan Nottle said Melbourne had traditionally increased tolerance towards the homeless, but there had been a change in community sentiment since the pandemic.
“We need to make sure we get the right balance. The last thing we want is for Melbourne to be known as a police state where policing, not compassion, is the focus,” Nottle said.
“There are some people who are not always aware of what they are doing because of the problems they face, and I think there should be tolerance and patience towards them.”
Homeless Alliance Victoria called on the council to immediately suspend the deployment of NGOs across the city. A spokesman for the organization said the program exposed homeless people to increased policing, scrutiny and violence.
“The City of Melbourne is seeking to criminalize community members who are themselves victims of crime and violence,” the spokesperson said.
“This narrative equates homelessness with a threat to public safety and social order, when in fact the City of Melbourne’s actions, policies and programs have created an unsafe environment and increased the potential for violence in the CBD.”
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