Traders in Hargreaves Mall have welcomed a move to station protective services officers near the bus station in Mitchell Street.
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PSOs will be stationed at Hargreaves Mall from 4-5.30pm before leaving to patrol the railway station before the last train, according to an announcement from the state government.
They will patrol Mitchell Street and Hargreaves Mall around the bus station.
A Victoria Police representative said the priority of Bendigo’s PSOs was to patrol in and around the railway station from 6pm until the last train. Recent legislative changes have meant that PSOs can also be deployed to Bendigo’s bus hubs when resources permit, the representative said.
Employee at a mall business Lauren Petri welcomed the move.
Ms Petri said disruption and bad language from groups of young people created a bad atmosphere in the Mall and drove away families.
“A lot of [families] don’t come to the mall… because they don’t want to be disturbed by it,” Ms Petri said.
“It does deter people, no one wants to hear that kind of language.”
Read more: Protective Services Officers in the Mall?
An employee at a mall business who did not wish to be named said she believed PSOs in the mall would make people feel safer.
She said large groups of young people hang out in the Mall all day and cause trouble.
“I think it stops a lot of people from coming down the Mall because of the antisocial behaviour,” the employee said.
When there’s big grounds and they’re fighting and swearing, it’s quite confronting for people.
- Hargreaves Mall employee
“When there’s big grounds and they’re fighting and swearing, it’s quite confronting for people.”
Read more: Design review planned for Hargreaves Mall
PSOs are intended to provide a highly visible police presence that helps deter crime.
Law changes in April have given more powers to PSOs, including the power to conduct a warrantless search for drugs of dependence, randomly search members of the public as part of a Control of Weapons operation, and apprehend a child under an emergency care warrant.
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