By XAVIER SMERDON
POLICE have vowed to catch thieves and trespassers that cause trouble at one of Wyndham’s busiest Christmas shopping destinations.
Members from the Werribee Police Station and the Operational Response Unit in the city launched Operation Festive Spirit last week.
The operation will target Werribee Plaza, which has been identified as a “high risk community location”, and will eventually branch out to include other shopping centres.
Acting Sergeant Chris Marsh from the Werribee Police told Star that security from the plaza had also been briefed on the operation and they would be working with police to try and curb the trend of Christmas time crime.
“We will be trying to lower the volume of property crime in the area, and that includes thefts from motor cars and shop thefts,” Acting Sgt Marsh said.
“We’ll also be targeting trespassers, people who have been issued a banned notice prohibiting them from returning to the plaza but decide to ignore that notice.”
Acting Sgt Marsh said currently around 100 people had been placed on a banned list and security staff and police were well aware of who they were.
“Thefts have been identified as an ongoing issue at the plaza and having this operation is just one of our risk reduction strategies,” he said.
“The levels of crime always increase and peak around Christmas and as part of the operation most of the offenders that are identified will be bailed with the condition that they are not allowed to return to the plaza until their court date.”
Acting Sgt Marsh said petty crimes at the plaza were taking away valuable police resources.
“Absolutely it can be a time consuming process and if we can reduce the frequency of these types of incidents then we can free up resources for other patrol duties,” he said.
“People can assist us by being mindful of what’s left in their cars.”
Acting Sgt Marsh said both uniform and pain clothed police would patrolling the plaza from the start of the operation last Tuesday right up until Christmas.
