235 284 HIGHLY VISIBLE POLICE OFFICERS
TICKETING AND TRANSPORT INFRINGEMENTS
19 31 ARRESTS
WARRANTS
Images Transit safety 01 First constables Anthony Vulling and Mark Carbone review a brief at TSD’s control centre. 02 First constables Lauren Morse and Robert Hickey discuss the outcome of a recent operation. 03 Sergeant Scott D’Rozario chose a career in policing.
It led to 19 arrests and the execution of warrants in excess of $200, 000 for outstanding fines as well as 284 ticketing and transport infringements.
03
The Transit Safety Division (TSD) Divisional Response Unit’s (DRU) Sergeant Scott D’Rozario has just come off a 12-hour shift after a joint operation in the south-eastern suburbs, but it doesn’t show. The operation was a success leading to the arrest of two men with a third arrest to come. “We executed three warrants for numerous graffiti jobs and a robbery,” he said. It took more than a year for the operation to reach its conclusion and involved careful planning and coordination. Sgt D’Rozario and his crew were heavily involved behind the scenes and on the frontline.
Only recently, TSD coordinated Operation Safeguard as part of a broader police strategy to target public transport trouble-spots in Dandenong and Noble Park.
He said the experience was invaluable and allowed him to manage his own operation and see plenty of action on the frontline through coordinated investigations.
These two suburbs topped the list for the most assaults against transit members in the state.
“Another sergeant and I headed up the New Years Day Warrant Day of Action. In two days we were able to execute 31 warrants,” he said.
The operation saw 235 highly visible police officers flooding the transport network in and around identified hot-spots in the south-eastern suburbs in December last year. It led to 284 ticketing and transport infringements, 19 arrests and the execution of warrants in excess of $200, 000. The local area commander for Transit South, Inspector Graham Higginbotham, said the operation was a success and no assaults against transit members were reported during the operation.
“If we’re catching them, we’re having a win,” he said.
“The feedback we got from the public was really positive and other areas are now looking to adopt the program in the next 12 months. Safeguard operations are already regularly running on the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines,” he said.
“It started off as an isolated offence and from there we linked it to a whole lot of other offences combining to create a fairly substantial investigation.”
Since the deployment of Protective Services Officers (PSOs) at train stations, TSD has been able to allocate its police resources to specialist areas in the division.
Sgt D’Rozario chose a career in policing over the army because he wanted to be an investigator. He said that although he loved the work, it was the positive interactions with the community that were a highlight.
This has allowed police to focus on reducing public transport crime by having investigative teams in the DRU, Crime Investigation Unit, Robbery Taskforce and tasking team.
He said the intricacies of the investigation, contribution of his crew and the arrests gave him the most satisfaction.
“It’s really nice when members of the public let us know they appreciate our presence,” he said. “It’s great when little kids say ‘hi’ and want to have their photo taken with you.” Sgt D’Rozario admitted not everyone feels the same way about police.
TSD does some of its best work when its specialist units collaborate and it is likely Sgt D’Rozario will continue to work alongside the tasking team in his position at the DRU. Only recently the tasking unit supported the DRU in the successful prosecution of a 34-year-old Tongala man, who is serving a two-year sentence for theft and more than $200,000 worth of criminal damage to Myki machines across Victoria. The DRU-led investigation presented many complexities with offences taking place across a range of jurisdictions. Police used security camera footage to piece together the investigation and it took six weeks of careful planning to arrest Mr Garbutt in December last year. Sgt D’Rozario said the complex nature of this investigation and the ongoing work at DRU kept him attracted to the job. “At the moment we’re doing a lot of investigative work, particularly around criminal damage. It is really demanding but also really rewarding. I think the results speak for themselves,” he said.
It also means TSD police have the chance to branch out into different fields and gain new skills so they can better serve the community. Sgt D’Rozario has enjoyed the opportunities afforded to him at TSD having spent three months with the tasking team before his appointment at DRU. POLICE LIFE | AUTUMN 2015
27