Security guard patrols in the Footscray CBD have made the area less safe and should be immediately scrapped according to research conducted by an organisation opposed to the trial program.
Footscray Community Response (FCR) has been researching the security guard patrols since a six-month trial began in September last year.
The findings of that research are contained in a report which FCR has released ahead of Maribyrnong council’s first meeting of the year next week, where councillors will vote on whether to make the trial permanent.
The FCR report recommends councillors vote no, finding the patrols have done more harm than good.
“The program has not created a safer environment and has instead harmed some of Footscray’s most marginalised residents,
FCR spokesperson and lawyer Shifrah Blustein said the group’s research included observations of the patrols, discussions with those who had interacted with the security guards and a legal analysis.
“FCR’s evaluation is damning,” Ms Blustein said.
Maribyrnong council didn’t respond directly to the report, but mayor Mohamed Semra said a mid-term review of the Footscray CBD security program had recently been completed and would be considered at the 17 February council meeting.
The security guard trial was introduced to tackle rising violence and anti-social behaviour in the Footscray CBD, particularly the Nicholson Street Mall where Johara Mohamed has operated Johara’s Megastore for nearly 10 years.
She disagreed with the findings of FCR report.
“It’s not less safe, it’s now safer” Ms Mohamed said of the impact of the trial on the Footscray CBD.
“The presence of the security guards has made it way better than before.”
