The Andrews Government plan to have PSOs on patrol in shopping centres
Armed PSOs could soon be on patrol in Melbourne’s shopping centres, festivals and other locations where large amounts of people are gathered.
As reported in The Herald Sun, the new PSOs will be paid for by the Andrews government, following the arrest of Ali Ali yesterday, who police say planned to shoot “as many people as he could” at Federation Square on New Year’s Eve.
Police Minister Lisa Neville told Neil Mitchell the plan is not set in stone but confirmed the government is looking at different ways to use PSOs.
“Because we’re recruiting so many, I think about 5000 over the next four years, it gives us an opportunity to look at how be best deploy police and PSOs,” she said.
“I think people love seeing police and PSOs out there, that’s what the message was from train stations.”
Click PLAY below to hear the full interview with the minister