Police, ambulance call-outs surge to North Richmond injecting room street

The toll on police and paramedic resources from Melbourne’s injecting room has been revealed, as the Andrews government pushes ahead with plans for a second CBD site.

Police and paramedic call-outs to a Richmond street have surged since the injecting room opened. Picture: Jason Edwards

Police and ambulance triple-0 call-outs to the street of Melbourne’s only injecting room have more than doubled since the North Richmond facility opened in 2018.

Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority (ESTA) data exclusively obtained by the Herald Sun under Freedom of Information Laws reveal calls for police and ambulance to Lennox St, North Richmond, skyrocketed by 107 per cent between January 2017 to January 2022.

A spate of shocking incidents near North Richmond’s injecting room have been reported since it opened in June 2018, including a man being found dead near the school last year.

The data showed calls to the injecting room at 23 Lennox St for all emergency services increased from 145 calls to 485 in the same time period.

Overall, emergency call-outs, (including fire and SES, as well as police and ambulance) to Lennox St also surged by 92 per cent.

The data, in some instances, can reflect one incident, where several people call in and would be represented as separate calls.

People loitering in a park near the injecting room. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Police Association secretary Wayne Gatt said: “This is what decision makers must take into account as they prepare to establish a similar facility in the CBD, a much more densely populated area.

“We have warned that our existing resources and workload in the CBD will not be able to cope under the increased weight of call outs that will be generated with a reproduction of this facility in the city.’’

Mr Gatt said when there was a high frequency of jobs in one area, it puts pressure on the resources of the responding station.

“Our members tell us they are called out multiple times a day to respond to incidents or reports of drug affected people, including for anti-social behaviour, drug-related crime, property crime and crimes against the person, in the vicinity of the facility,’’ he said.

Neil Mallet, whose son attends Richmond West Primary School, said the data supported “all of the concerns” expressed by locals and the school community.

“We have been all distressed by this situation but the state government has denied and it’s been a fallacy that this is improving things for everybody, it’s clearly not,” he said.

The North Richmond injecting room opened in June 2018. Picture: Nicole Garmston

“We’re still seeing drug users openly injecting in front of children and families.

“It looks like a scene out of zombie land, it’s horrible.”

A Victoria Police spokesman said “highly visible” patrols continued across the Richmond area to detect and deter crimes.

“According to the latest Crime Statistics Agency data, total crimes against the person surrounding North Richmond were at their lowest levels since 2018,” the spokesman said.

“Total drug offences were also at their lowest levels since 2019 in the year ending June 2022, decreasing by 29 per cent from the previous twelve months.”

A Department of Health spokeswoman said: “The MSIR was established to save lives and reduce the harm caused by drugs – which is exactly what the data shows it’s doing.

“Since opening it has safely managed more than 5900 overdoses and saved at least 44 lives.”

Opposition Mental Health spokeswoman Emma Kealy said: “Not only has Labor’s injecting room dismally failed to deliver on its legislated KPIs, but it has actually made the original problems much, much worse.’’

The state government bought the former Yooralla building opposite Flinders St Station for $40.3m last year.

The Herald Sun revealed in October that former top cop Ken Lay had not consulted with Victoria Police and Mr Gatt about a second facility in Melbourne’s CBD since June last year.

The long-awaited report was meant to be finalised at the end of 2020.