Hannah Hammoud
Brimbank and Melton police have this month teamed up with a range of specialist units to target serious and violent crime in the western suburbs as part of Operation Cavalcade.
The joint operation has diverted Public Order Response Team (PORT) officers – based in Melbourne’s CBD – to Brimbank and Melton throughout May.
Police are honing in on busy community locations including Watergardens and Woodgrove shopping centres, parks, and other shopping strips to deter anti-social behaviour and prevent crime.
On May 3, police arrested a Sunshine man after he was seen allegedly brandishing a knife inside Watergardens Shopping Centre in Taylors Lakes.
It is alleged the man stole a knife from a grocery store before he began waving it around. Police said no one was injured during the incident.
The month before, on April 15, police responded to the incident at the Woodgrove Shopping Centre in Melton West, following reports of a group of males fighting, armed with edged weapons, which resulted in two teenagers being arrested.
Another focus of Operation Cavalcade has been train stations – with police and protective services officers from the Transit Safety Division conducting patrols of Sunshine, Melton and St Albans railway stations.
PORT officers are also assisting the local offender management team in putting known youth gang offenders on notice.
As part of this, officers have been conducting regular bail compliance checks, firearm prohibition order compliance checks, and patrol hot spot areas.
The local proactive policing unit and detectives from Brimbank and Melton crime investigation units are also providing resources to the operation.
Brimbank tasking and co-ordination Acting Inspector Nick Di-Mieri said police are ensuring the community is not only safe, but feels safe.
“We know how much the community is impacted when violence occurs in public places,” Acting Inspector Di-Mieri said.
“That’s why we have teamed up with specialist police to really bolster our presence in priority locations.
“They’ll also assist us in keeping known offenders accountable through regular compliance checks.”
Operation Cavalcade began on May 6, and will run for the entire month.
