With millions of Victorians planning their New Year's Eve celebrations, police are gearing up to ensure it's another safe night for all.
Whether attending a community event, one of Victoria's many foreshores, coming into Melbourne to see the fireworks or enjoying a gathering in your backyard - the community can be assured police are well resourced across the state.
Melbourne - which has been declared a designated area until the end of May - is well placed for another safe New Year's Eve fireworks display.
Officers will be patrolling the city's transport hubs and entertainment precincts to ensure safety, and will continue conducting weapon searches which have been occurring since 30 November.
St Kilda's foreshore and Geelong CBD will also be declared designated areas for the evening.
Thousands of general duties police combined with the Public Order Response Team, Mounted Branch, Critical Incident Response Team, Air Wing, Water Police, Dog Squad, Transit police and PSOs will be working overnight to ensure celebrations are safe.
The operation will continue into New Year's Day, with the road safety blitz continuing.
Highway Patrol units will be saturating major roads and local streets, conducting drug and alcohol testing on drivers.
PSOs will have a dedicated presence at all 224 metropolitan railway stations, and key regional hubs in Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo and Traralgon to ensure revellers get to and from celebrations safely.
Police continue to remind the community about the dangers of illegal fireworks.
There were more than 280 reports of fireworks-related incidents during last year's New Year's Eve celebrations which resulted in several fires.
Alongside the risk of serious injury or death, fireworks are unpredictable and volatile items that can result in fires, as well as causing substantial property damage and serious injuries to those in the area.
Quotes attributable to State NYE Commander, Acting Commander Belinda Jones:
"A significant level of planning has been underway to ensure we are well resourced to maintain community safety for the many events right across the state.
"We know this strong police presence will provide particular reassurance given the events in recent weeks.
"Behaviour at New Year's Eve is traditionally overwhelmingly positive - our focus will be on ensuring this is the case once again.
"Everyone is encouraged to enjoy the festivities, but ensure you do so safely - look out for your mates and have a plan to get to and from your event."
Quotes attributable to Melbourne's NYE Commander, Acting Commander Troy Papworth:
"We have been planning for some time to ensure the city is safe and enjoyable for this major celebration.
"With hundreds of thousands of people expected to attend Melbourne for the fireworks display - we will have a significant number of police working across the city.
"We will also be focused on areas across Melbourne which attract large crowds, including Maribyrnong Park, Williamstown and Werribee as well as working with our Southern Metro police who will be looking after the beaches from Port Melbourne to Portsea.
"Public transport use is encouraged, and we will have PSOs along with a range of policing resources across Melbourne's transport network."
