Tuesday, 15 October 2019

In reply to  Mrs McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (15 August 2019)

Ms NEVILLE (Bellarine—Minister for Water, Minister for Police and Emergency Services):

Victoria Police has been working with the City of Greater Geelong, traders and other agencies to address anti-social behaviour in the Geelong Mall.

Protective Services Officers at Geelong Train Station patrol the train stations from Waurn Ponds to Lara and patrol the Moorabool Bus Exchange which is adjacent to the Mall.

Victoria Police is devoting significant resources to crime issues in and around the Geelong Mall. There are increased patrols and operations in the Mall and Geelong CBD to reassure the community, improve community safety and address anti-social behaviour.

Operation Safeguard Geelong is a new operation to target anti-social behaviour as well as drug, weapon, property and traffic offences. The operation will be highly visible and will see increased foot patrols in Geelong’s CBD with support from specialist units such as Mounted Branch, Highway Patrol and Transit Safety Division. A combination of uniform and plain-clothes officers will be working so while police may not always be visible, chances are they will still be out and about patrolling the streets.

There are a number of other operations targeting the Geelong CBD. Operation City Safe is a visible police presence within the Mall using uniform police members and the Mounted Branch. Operation Spotter is a traffic operation with a police presence, targeting pedestrian and vehicle laws. Operation Pluto is a traffic operation targeting drug and alcohol offences involving Passive Alert Detection dogs and the Mounted Branch. There are also daily foot patrols and ongoing bicycle and highway patrols.

Victoria Police and the City of Greater Geelong have an ongoing partnership, which involves the monitoring of City Safe CCTV cameras at the Geelong Police Station. This enables Victoria Police to identify persons wanted on warrants, identify offences being committed and subsequently arrest offenders. The next ‘Week of Warrants’ will be held from 21 to 25 October 2019.

The government has also provided more than $2 million in funding for community crime prevention initiatives in the City of Greater Geelong. This includes $1.4 million towards Reignite, a Youth Crime Prevention Grant program that seeks to divert young people away from offending and into education, training or employment.

As part of the government’s record investment into police recruitment, 53 new police officers have been deployed to the Geelong Division, with a further 38 to be deployed over the next 12 months.

We will continue to give Victoria Police the resources they need to keep the community safe and drive down offending.