by Sahar Foladi
A team of Victoria Police officers were deployed to tackle anti-social behaviours in City of Greater Dandenong, as part of Operation Javelin.
The operation ran from Tuesday 24 September until Wednesday 25 September in the heart of Dandenong.
Detective Leading Senior Constable Steve Woodhouse says 60 police officers were deployed over the two days, including two mounted branch members each day.
“The operation was born out of the idea to detect and disrupt crimes in Dandenong CBD but in particular to coincide with school holidays.
“Identifying young people, who will be more out and about, and potentially while having fun that may mean they can turn to crimes.”
The operation was conducted at hotspots at Dandenong Square, Dandenong railway station and areas in between the two, as well as Springvale Town Hall and Springvale Library.
The hotspots were known to police.
Overall 22 were arrested and processed for a myriad of offences ranging from drug possession, handling stolen goods, burglary and theft of motor vehicle.
Six were arrested over drug offences and nine had outstanding warrants for failing to appear to court.
“Having that operation enabled us to have that time and effort to proactively search for crime rather than respond to it when it’s reported,” Lead Sen Const Woodhouse said.
“It’s certainly a challenge for us. We get frustrated when any crime is committed but we acknowledge drug offences are prominent and we’re committed to driving it down.”
The operation was considered “extremely successful”, with a similar operation to be conducted in the future. No dates have been nominated as yet.
As reported previously by Star Journal the latest official crime stats show theft, shoplifting, home burglaries and street crime have soared in Greater Dandenong.
Crime Statistics Agency data shows crime rose by 2.5 per cent in the 2023-’24 financial year.
Crimes involving 0-17 year olds were up 25 per cent in the municipality.
While some suburbs saw a spike in recorded offences such as Keysborough (16 per cent) there were significant drop in Noble Park (10 per cent) and Dandenong North (8 per cent).
