By CASEY NEILL
AN undercover police sting nabbed seven men soliciting prostitutes in central Dandenong last week – and the crackdown isn’t over.
Sergeant Pat Green said the men, aged from their mid-twenties to mid-fifties, approached two officers who acted as street sex workers on 12 September.
“They will all be summonsed to one court date at Dandenong Magistrates’ Court,” he said.
Sgt Green said covert and overt operations would continue until the problem was gone and encouraged members of the public to assist.
“If the locals can see a particular spike in days and times, that would be very handy for us to know,” he said.
“We can target our resources accordingly. We’ll continue to target gutter crawlers.
“If we do identify anyone they’ll be arrested and they’ll be charged. Summonses will be delivered to home addresses.
“We don’t tolerate this sort of behaviour. It’s having an adverse impact on the local community.
“You’ve been warned.”
Police made one arrest and interviewed three suspects in a prostitution blitz in Dandenong’s CBD in July.
This followed a Star News Group report that month that gutter crawlers propositioned a 19-year-old girl twice in seven minutes as she waited for a bus in Scott Street.
In February, Star reported that a 70-year-old woman was propositioned outside her Scott Street home and the problem was instilling “fear and discomfort” among residents and visitors.
Greater Dandenong Local Area Commander, Inspector Bruce Kitchen, said street prostitution had been a problem in Dandenong for the past seven years.
Sgt Green urged residents and shopkeepers to anonymously report prostitution to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or call him at Dandenong Police Station on 9767 7444.
