Westfield Fountain Gate is Melbourne’s most crime-ridden shopping centre
Crime has skyrocketed at Narre Warren’s Westfield Fountain Gate, making it Melbourne’s most troublesome shopping centre. But traders from several others say gang violence is rife. How dangerous is the one nearest to you?
Wyndham Leader
Don't miss out on the headlines from Wyndham Leader. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Violent crime in and around shopping centres across Melbourne has gone up by almost 90 per cent in the past five years.
It comes as total offences at centres has increased by more than 40 per cent in the same period.
Melbourne’s worst centre by volume of crime is Fountain Gate in Narre Warren in Melbourne’s southeast.
There was a 104 per cent increase in offences, from 448 incidents to 914 in the five years to the end of 2019.
Brutal attacks became so frequent at the shopping centre, Victoria Police was forced to deploy patrols on horseback around the venue.
Northland was the second worst shopping centre by number of crimes with 843 last year, followed by Southland in Cheltenham with 567 and then Bayside shopping in Frankston with 566 offences.
However, Chadstone had the worst increase in crimes over five years (117 per cent) followed by Eastland in Ringwood with an increase of 105 per cent.
Overall, there were more than 14 crimes a day committed at Melbourne shopping centres last year, two of which would be deemed violent in nature.
They include;
● A gang of six teenagers attacking a 14-year-old boy on his own in a food court, robbing him of his belongings.
● A man brandishing a knife causing a centre to go into lockdown and the mass evacuation of shoppers
● A woman attacked by six teenage girls, while security looked helplessly on.
● A wild brawl between teenagers “punching on” in front of horrified onlookers.
Victoria Police spokeswoman Amelia Penhall said police regularly patrolled shopping centres and ran investigations – like Operation Tidal in Narre Warren – to address offending at shopping centres.
“Since Operation Tidal commenced in April last year, police have made more than 1000 arrests.
“Operation Tidal is ongoing and police will continue to arrest and charge offenders as required.
“We are committed to addressing youth related offending with a focus on robberies, public order offending and vehicle crime linked to serious offending.”
The shocking statistics come after 15-year-old Solomone Taufeulungaki was fatally stabbed at Brimbank Shopping Centre in Deer Park last Tuesday.
Police believe the teenager was caught in the middle of two feuding youth gangs who had also fought the day before at the same shopping centre.
No one has been charged with his murder but six youths have been charged with violent disorder and affray.
Traders from several shopping centres have told the Herald Sun gang violence is rife, with groups of teens storming stores, stealing goods and terrorising shoppers.
“We have had youths run in, quickly grab items and steal them, by the time we call security they have already made a run for it, it’s terrible,” one said.
Charlie Rimmer, regional manager for Scentre Group, which manages Fountain Gate, said the safety and security of its customers was a priority.
“We welcome Victoria Police and the State Government’s initiative to deploy Protective Service Officers to shopping centres,” he said.
MORE NEWS
YOUTH GANGS PLAN MELBOURNE CHAOS WHEN LEADERS OUT OF JAIL
NORTHERN FOOTBALL LEAGUE STARS KEEN TO PLAY SOMEWHERE IN 2020
ADVENTURE PLAY PRECINCT PART OF REDEVELOPMENT
While Justin Blumfield, shopping director of Vicinity Centres, which manages Northland said police patrolling at peak times had helped reduce crime.
“Our security teams patrol our centre throughout the day and night, we have added lighting to ensure areas such as car parks are well-lit at night and there’s an extensive network of CCTV which assists our teams and police,” Mr Blumfield said.