Victoria Police increasing security presence over New Year’s Eve

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Victoria Police is increasing its presence at New Year’s Eve events with thousands of officers set to be on patrol.  They'll be given the power to stop and search people for weapons in several popular locations.

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00:00This year's celebrations are expected to be bigger and better than ever, with about half

00:07a million people expected to come into Melbourne's CBD to enjoy the fireworks and laser display.

00:13Now, the real focus this year is on community safety.

00:18We've been told that there will be more police officers on the beat than ever before.

00:232,500 police will be deployed across the state, including 500 officers in the CBD area.

00:30Now, that is really in response to the recent devastating events that unfolded in Bondi.

00:36We've also been told that there will be a number of designated search areas set up, including

00:42in St Kilda and in Geelong, where police will have those additional powers to search people for weapons.

00:49We also saw during the Boxing Day Test cricket that there were a number of heavily armed police

00:54officers patrolling on foot.

00:56We've been told that those police will still be around.

00:59We won't be able to see them on foot, but they'll be on standby in their vehicles in case

01:04something happens that they need to respond to.

01:07We heard from Victoria Police a little earlier today, and here's what they had to say about

01:10their operation.

01:11Those police will be our general duties police, supported by our public order response teams,

01:17our critical incident response teams, mounted police, water police, you name it, we're

01:23bringing all the police out for the event.

01:25We want people to come into the city and across the state to have a really safe night.

01:30There'll be two displays this year, the 9.30 family-friendly one, as well as the midnight

01:35show.

01:36Now, there will be fireworks and these new and improved lasers that will be used during the

01:41two displays.

01:42Those lasers are multi-directional, so we should be able to see them from a lot more locations

01:48around the CBD.

01:50We've been told that the fireworks has cost around $6 million this year, but it's expected

01:56to bring in about $75 million in revenue through people out and about and enjoying all that there

02:02is to enjoy around the CBD.

02:05Now, we have been told that the best way to travel on New Year's is via public transport.

02:10From 6pm on New Year's Eve until 6am on New Year's Day, public transport will be free.

02:16So we've been told everyone should plan ahead, make sure you know where those road closures

02:20are if you are driving, and make sure that you look at the public transport timetable to

02:26get to your destinations.

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