Fire Services, Ambulance, Victoria Police, including the Critical Incident Response Team were all visible around Brockwell Crescent and Weaver Street, Manor Lakes yesterday morning (20th September) at around 9.00 am.
Many local residents were watching from their houses as the unknown incident unfolded before them.
CCTV footage sent in to Wyndham TV shows officers managing military style weapons, and later, two children being escorted to waiting police vehicles in an operation that had alarmed locals wondering what was going on.
A spokesperson at Victoria Police advised that there was an issue that involved someone’s mental health and that the operation was a ‘standard response’ for these types of events. No further information was supplied.
Police encounters with people who appear to be mentally ill can occur in numerous ways.
At one end of the spectrum is Victoria Police’s Critical Incident Response Team. This component of Victoria Police’s Force Response Unit, which includes the Special Operations Group, provides a high-level specialised response to potentially volatile situations.
Such situations include sieges, threats of suicide and hostage situations that may involve someone who appears to be mentally ill.
The training provided to members of these teams is resource-intensive and includes qualified negotiation and alternative force strategies.
When these specialised response units are activated the situation has often been effectively managed by primary police responders who have used de-escalation or containment skills to enable the arrival of a secondary specialist response.
