A DROP in crime is just one of the positive effects of police foot patrols through the Footscray CBD, according to Victorian Police Minister Kim Wells.
Joining a police patrol through Footscray crime hotspots on Thursday, Mr Wells said the initiative had helped forge stronger ties between police, traders, the Vietnamese and African communities and social welfare groups.
“We’ve seen crime in the area drop by around 6 per cent and you can’t help but be impressed by those sorts of numbers,” he said.
‘‘This is a real back-to-basics policing. They have more police on foot patrol, there’s the mounted police, and in addition to that they have the CCTV. That obviously makes it so much more effective on the frontline, to be able to identify crime and be able to deal with it.”
The Footscray Public Assistance Team began regular patrols of the Footscray CBD last October.
The initial three-month trial was extended and the patrol is now permanent. The foot patrol model will be trialled at Highpoint shopping centre in Maribyrnong from next month, cracking down on shoplifting and vehicle theft.
The Footscray foot patrols are being backed by covert operations focusing on drug crime.
Mr Wells said it was disappointing to see drug trafficking was still prevalent in Footscray.
“Heroin is a significant problem in Footscray, driven by people who generally don’t live in the area,” he said. “The assurances I’ve been given by Footscray police is that they’re onto it, they’re dealing with it, they’re identifying people and that is being tackled.”
From October to April, three people were charged with trafficking a drug of dependence, while 16 people were detected possessing drugs.
Mr Wells said another important part of the patrols was linking people with appropriate services.
“There’s a system in Footscray where they deal with links … deal with people who may be long-term alcoholics or have mental health issues who may have slipped through the net,” he said.
Mr Wells conceded relations between police and emerging communities could be strained at times, but he believed progress was being made despite backwards steps such as the controversy over racially offensive beer stubby holders produced by Sunshine police.
“If you keep working at it, it will end up having a positive outcome,” he said.
