Last week, police from multiple regions and specialist areas joined forces in Operation Alliance to disrupt gang activity, arrest violent offenders, and engage with those on the fringes of youth gangs.
The operation, which ran from the 5th to the 9th of March, saw police saturate the western, northern, south–east, and inner eastern suburbs of Melbourne, including Point Cook, Truganina, Werribee, Croydon, Dandenong, Melton and Springvale.
The results of the four–day operation were as follows: 67 people were arrested, including 15 with ties to street gangs, 126 bail compliance checks were conducted, 33 bail breaches were identified, and nearly 400 persons of interest were engaged with, 77 of whom had gang associations, 29 outstanding warrants were cleared, 31 Firearm Prohibition Order searches were performed, and 7,700 cars were checked through Automatic Numberplate Recognition Technology.
In Wyndham, five youth offenders with alleged links to street gangs were arrested by the Westgate Alliance Taskforce in relation to multiple car thefts. A 16-year-old and 17-year-old from Tarneit, and three 15-year-olds from Truganina, have all been arrested by police. Of these, three were remanded in custody, one was bailed, and one was released with the expectation that they will be charged via summons. All are expected to appear in a children’s court at a later date.
Over the course of the past year, 453 known youth gang members have been arrested a combined total of 1,440 times, leading to over 3,200 charges and 173 offenders being remanded.
