Police in the south east have been working hard to turn the tide of youth offending as part of Operation Tidal.
Tidal is an operation which utilises a highly visible police presence across the Casey, Greater Dandenong and Cardinia Police Service Areas (PSAs).
As part of Operation Tidal police have made nearly 400 arrests and executed 126 warrants of apprehension.
Superintendent Paul Hollowood from the Southern Metro Region said Operation Tidal was focused on addressing youth related offending across three major crime themes which included robberies, public order offending and vehicle crime linked to serious offending.
"The operation commenced earlier this year in April and we've seen some really positive results," Supt Hollowood said.
"Operation Tidal also links in closely with the Southern Metro Crime Team's Operation Pendsend which is a Youth Response Team made up of detectives who monitor at-risk youths and develop disruption and enforcement strategies.
"This is a strategic approach to sharing information to ensure we have an intelligence-led approach to our enforcement of youth offending in this area.
"We know crimes such as robberies and public order offending has been a concern to the community and Operation Tidal has been developed to specifically target these issues.
"As part of Operation Tidal, officers proactively target known hotspots in an effort to detect and deter offending.
"Through our highly visible presence in the community and patrols of high risk locations we've been very successful in identifying and arresting offenders very quickly.
"For example, officers patrolling as part of Operation Tidal were able to almost instantly arrest two teenage girls who tried to flee after allegedly robbing a woman and stealing her handbag near the Dandenong Train Station.
"The pair were each charged with one count of robbery and remanded in custody overnight.
"This is just one of example of how Operation Tidal is helping us to hold offenders to account. We continue to see significant results like this every single day.
"Tidal is an ongoing operation and police will continue to focus our resources where they're most needed."
Results from Operation Tidal since 1 April 2019:
• 396 arrests
• 126 warrants of apprehension executed
• 278 traffic infringements
• 50 crime infringements
Operation Tidal utilises local resources from the Cardinia, Casey and Greater Dandenong PSAs, as well as regional resources from the Frontline Tasking Unit and state-wide resources from the Operations Response Unit.
If you need immediate police assistance always call Triple Zero (000). Report any suspicious behaviour to your local police station or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
