Tough new laws to tackle street violence have been passed by Parliament, Member for Northern Victoria Region, Candy Broad said today.
Ms Broad said Victoria Police officers will now have new random search and move on powers to prevent unruly behaviour and help keep Northern Victorian residents safe.
“These critical new reforms will strengthen our local police’s ability to deal with drunkenness and disorder in public places and particularly violence involving the use of weapons,” Ms Broad said.
“Anti-social behaviour has no place on our streets and these new laws introduced by the Brumby Labor Government will help keep Northern Victorian residents safe so that people can enjoy public spaces.”
The new police powers include:
- Introducing tougher random search powers for weapons in designated areas;
- Giving police the power to direct people to move-on from a certain area where there is a fear there will be a breach of the peace;
- Creating a new offence of disorderly conduct; and
- Establishing on-the-spot penalties with a fine of $234 for the new offence of disorderly conduct and for existing offences of “drunk and disorderly” and “drunk”.
Ms Broad said senior police will be empowered to declare designated areas, such as particular locations in entertainment precincts and railway stations, on the basis of past evidence and police intelligence around the use of weapons.
“Police will also have the power to use the new search laws when an immediate response to an incident is necessary in order to protect public safety,” she said.
“This is further evidence of that we are continuing the fight for community safety by supporting police by giving them greater powers and by helping them hire more police for our streets.
“There are more police on the beat now than ever before in Victoria and the Brumby Labor Government has put an additional 1400 police into the force with another 470 being added during this term to help keep the community safe.”