WA Police launch Operation Heat Shield on Sunday amid city violence

Police patrols will be stepped up in WA from December as part of a special operation to target the State’s annual summer crime spike.

Off the back of success in the summers of 2019 and 2020, WA Police Operation Heat Shield will deliver more police on the beat to combat crime and antisocial behaviour.

An additional 38,500 operational policing hours are expected between December and March, as officers will be offered more shifts.

WA Police Minister Paul Papalia announced the launch of the operation in Northbridge on Sunday, which will be delivered through a $3.5 million funding injection.

While seemingly scaled back from last year’s $5 million operation which provided an additional 55,000 police hours, Mr Papalia said increased officer recruitment throughout the year and a shortened campaign had equalised the commitment.

“The other two years it started earlier and went longer,” he said.

“Bear in mind we’ve got more police now than we’ve had before and we’ve got, we’re recruiting more

“We’re throwing more into resourcing police than ever before. It’s just this funding is the same level of funding in terms of numbers on the street during that time.”

The high visibility proactive police patrols will be undertaken in party hotspots such as Northbridge, Scarborough and Hillarys, while coordinated operations will target burglary, theft and violent offences.

It comes after high profile assaults and incidents at party precincts in recent weeks, including two alleged violent assaults in Hillarys that left several men in hospital.

“This provides additional numbers right across the state, when we really need them in summer,” Mr Papalia said.

“Summer is a time when people are out and about in greater numbers than any other time of the year.

So it’s good to have more police on the ground.

“It’s also a time when we do get a bit of a lift in some of those other crimes that have actually been depressed and have been going down in recent times, and that’s burglary and theft.”

Deputy Police Commissioner Gary Dreibergs assured the community that more mounted police, canine unit, bike and beat patrols would be allocated to entertainment and transport precincts to deter anti-social behaviour and provide reassurance to the public.

“We want to have a vibrant city and we want people to feel safe to go and enjoy themselves,” he said.

“Intention of that is to have high visibility policing to make people feel safe. But not only that, be able to respond immediately should an issue occur and apprehend the offenders.”