Wyndham police have been making inroads with dozens of people arrested over two nights as part of an operation targeting high risk drivers.
Police intelligence indicates over the last 12 months there has been an increase in motorbike riders and young male drivers driving at dangerously high speeds and attempting to evade police in the local area.
As part of the ongoing efforts in reducing road risk, a targeted operation has been occurring for the last two months which has seen 37 people arrested on two different nights of activity.
The operation sees Victoria Police’s eyes in the sky scouring the area to detect potential risky drivers, with units on the ground responding and intercepting drivers. The Dog Squad are also available in the area to search for any offenders who attempt to flee.
The majority of those arrested are for offences including driving stolen vehicles, drug and drink driving, unlicenced driving and evading police.
Four vehicles have been impounded and taken off the roads as part of the operation.
Notable incidents from the operation include:
• The Air Wing detected a vehicle travelling at high speed in Hoppers Crossing at about 7.30pm on Friday 18 February. Highway Patrol responded and attempted to intercept the vehicle before it evaded police. The Air Wing followed the vehicle to Strathmore Crescent where the passenger got out of the vehicle before it drove off again. Uniform police responded, located the passenger and arrested him. The vehicle was then tracked by the Air Wing to Broadlands Court where multiple units on the ground responded and arrested the male for speeding and evading police.
• About one hour later at approximately 8.30pm, the Air Wing observed two males allegedly trespassing a wrecking yard in Laverton North. Two of the business owners arrived after sighting the males on CCTV, with one attempting to confront the males who allegedly produced a knife. The two males fled in a vehicle on the Federation Trail and allegedly struck the other business owner at low speed who was walking up the path. The victim was luckily not injured. The Air Wing tracked the vehicle to a commercial address a short distance later where multiple units on the ground were able to move in and arrest the male driver.
Operation Shows supports the local area’s ongoing efforts to apprehend offenders and ensure road safety in the area by combining uniform police with the Highway Patrol, Wyndham Crime Investigation Unit, Divisional Response Unit, Dog Squad and Air Wing.
Wyndham’s Highway Patrol Unit regularly patrol the streets and target driver behaviour, including impaired driving, speed, fatigue, distraction offences and seatbelt compliance.
Multiple investigative units such as the Crime Investigation Unit and the Divisional Response Unit are focused on apprehending offenders and monitoring known persons of interest involved in crimes such as car theft, drug dealing, drug manufacturing, robberies and assaults.
Specialist units such as the Public Order Response Team, Transit police and PSOs regularly patrol public areas and the public transport network to prevent crime while also providing a rapid response to any incidents.
Police will again be out saturating the area this week as part of Operation Shows.
Quotes attributable to Wyndham Inspector Darren Bentley:
“Whenever a driver fails to stop or pull over, they’re making a conscious decision to continue on and ignore the direction of police.”
“Generally someone who evades police has something to hide or has been involved in risky or dangerous driving and we have zero tolerance for this kind of behaviour.”
“We also know people aren’t stealing cars to get them to and from their day job – there is usually further offending involved which is why we have a strong focus on locating stolen vehicles.”
“Anyone selfish enough to risk the lives of others on our roads by speeding, driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol or driving unlicenced can prepare to see our flashing lights in their rear-view mirror very soon.”
