One in 10 ”armed”

Hamish Heard
A police operation using metal detectors to scan people carrying knives and other weapons in central Geelong kicked off this week with immediate results.
Plainclothed officers from Geelong Police Tasking Unit found knives or other dangerous items on more than one in 10 youths randomly searched around Geelong’s mall on Tuesday.
The operation, codenamed Viable, followed a week of violence in Geelong that left one man dead and another seriously injured after separate knife attacks and a third hospitalised following an axe rampage.
Sergeant David Cooper said police were preparing to charge on summons a 17year old male and a man in his mid 20s with possession of dangerous weapons after the pair were allegedly found carrying knives.
A third man, 25, is also facing charges after police found him carrying a pair of modified scissors during the operation.
“He had no lawful excuse to be in possession of scissors while in the CBD, so it’s possible they were being used as a dangerous article,” Sgt Cooper said.
He said police were not surprised to find more than 11 per cent of the 26 people randomly checked were carrying weapons.
“It’s disturbing but it doesn’t surprise me,” he said.
“As the years have gone on by it’s become reasonably common for assaults to be committed with the use of weapons and obviously police have to be proactive to remove those weapons from the streets.”
Sgt Cooper said the quest to rid Geelong of weapons had only just begun, with police planning more random checks for coming weeks.
“It will be ongoing through the month of June, so we expect to get more results as the operation progresses,” he said.
“With the use of metal detector scanners, we have the ability to search, detect and remove weapons, making the CBD a safer place for the public to congregate.”
Police have charged a Thomson man over last week’s murder.
Corio detectives were yesterday still hunting a gang of armed bandits who attacked a Norlane father with an axe during a violent home invasion last Wednesday.