Police vow to crack down after St Kilda foreshore brawls
Police have vowed to crack down on robberies and violence in St Kilda following a number of terrifying incidents in recent weeks. Here’s what they plan to do.
Law & Order
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Police have vowed to crack down on robberies and violence in St Kilda following a number of terrifying incidents in recent weeks.
Three men were bashed and robbed by a group of youths on the foreshore on Saturday night, not the first time violence has sprung up in the popular beachside suburb this year.
As the weather warms up police have said they will have to be on their toes to stamp out trouble.
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Operation Sandsafe — targeting the City of Port Phillip’s foreshore between Port Melbourne and Elwood — will focus on public order, preventing theft of personal property, along with road safety.
Over the coming weeks police will make use of a power which allows them to stop people in a designated area — in this case St Kilda foreshore — and search them for weapons.
Operation Sandsafe has been running since last year and has seen a strong police presence in the St Kilda area.
Even more police will be in the area over summer to stamp out trouble.
“We know that crime rates and public order issues peak yearly over the summer period, with the months of December to February accounting for half of all foreshore offences committed, as well as the highest number of calls for police assistance,” Superintendent Philip Green told the Herald Sun.
“Police will be actively patrolling public transport hubs, local roads and enforcing local laws regarding the consumption and possession of alcohol.
“The community have the right to enjoy this space and police will not tolerate any unlawful or anti-social behaviour.”
Several vicious bashings and robberies have been reported on the foreshore last month and the notorious trashing of the beach on Christmas Day last year, cost Port Phillip council $23,000 in clean-up bills.
Specialist police resources — including the Operations Response Unit, Mounted Branch, Water Police and Transit Safety Division — will help local officers in the coming weeks.
Supt Green praised the City of Port Phillip for bringing in new laws to crackdown on the misuse of alcohol in the area.
“Operation Sandsafe allows Victoria Police to deploy relevant resources with a focus on maintaining public safety,” he said.
“It is no secret St Kilda has been impacted by public order issues on hot weather days.
“This has been developed in relation to these behaviours with additional and specialist police resources providing an increased level of police visibility and a greater response.
“We can and will hold offenders to account.”
Supt Green said police had noticed changes in crowd behaviours in recent times.
“Large groups of young people come here and a small number of them engage in unlawful behaviour,” he said.
“As the police commander here I will make no apology for holding offenders to account and we will be applying appropriate resources to stop unwanted behaviour and bring offenders before the courts.”