POLICE IN RICHMOND ESTATE FOR DRUG CRACKDOWN TRIAL

Jason Dowling September 24, 2011 - 12:43AM

The radical move to establish the quasi police station is aimed at preventing the spread of drugs sold openly on Victoria Street and to restrict the drug trade in the area.The battle against drug dealing has shifted to the epicentre of inner Melbourne's street trade with police establishing a ''command post'' within a troublesome Richmond public housing estate.

The new command post - thought to be an Australian first - has been arranged by police and the Victorian government and is in one of the Elizabeth Street housing estate units in Richmond.

Police at the new post monitor CCTV footage beamed in from around the estate and dispatch patrols to respond to drug trafficking and other crimes.

The command post has been in operation since June and acting Senior Sergeant Tony Loveridge, of Richmond police station, said it was a model that could be introduced in trouble spots around the state.

''If the need was there, this a great way to go about having an intense surveillance and monitoring of what's going on in your area,'' he said.

Acting Senior Sergeant Loveridge said the command post allowed increased policing of the estate with more patrols and a greater visible police presence.

''It is a quasi police station and we are letting all the residents down there know about it,'' he said.

He said feedback from residents at the estate about the police presence had been positive.

But he said police would also like CCTV coverage extended to the nearby Victoria Street.

''I think it is pretty widely known that we are the drug trafficking hot spot in Victoria, around Richmond here. The housing estate and Victoria Street would be the centres of that,'' he said.

A month before the command post was opened, Yarra Council deferred a decision on the introduction of CCTV on Victoria Street and instead asked council staff to investigate the CCTV proposal and report back to the council by the end of the year.

The council also requested the Baillieu government trial a supervised injecting facility in Yarra - a move rejected by the government.

Yarra Council mayor Alison Clarke said there were some concerns about introducing CCTV on Victoria Street.

''One of our concerns is whether installing CCTV cameras in Victoria Street would just push the drug dealing and drug use further into nearby residential streets,'' she said.

She said law enforcement measures ''need to be supported with other measures that help manage the behaviours of drug-users and help them recover from their addictions''.

Acting Senior Sergeant Loveridge said it was unclear if drug dealers were selling to residents in the estate - or if some residents were dealers. But he said police were attempting to tighten access to the estate.

He said it was too early to say if the command post was having an impact on crime in the area. ''Whether or not we really are making an impact just in the areas around there and we are moving it somewhere else, it is probably too soon to say,'' he said.

''We are not going to stop drug users overnight, it is a lot bigger issue, there are a lot more people that need to be involved before we do that.''

A state government spokesman said the Richmond housing estate command post was a trial and ''at this stage, there are no plans for further command posts to be established''.

This story was found at: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/police-in-richmond-estate-for-drug-crackdown-trial-20110923-1kpe5.html