A new Mobile Policing Unit (MPU) based out of Knox will help tackle crime hotspots, manage critical incidents and lead large-scale search and rescue efforts and natural disaster response starting this week.
The new MPU looks like a Victoria Police branded large minivan, with the inside fitted out with infrastructure aimed to provide officers with the same level of access to information as they would have at a police station.
Victoria Police said the unit will be used to target crime hotspots by deploying them in areas of concern as a visual deterrent through the use of an external electronic message board, with the roaming vehicle also being deployed to neighbourhoods or public locations after serious crimes have occurred to reassure the community.
“The MPUs will be an integral part of the police response to critical incidents such as sieges and natural disasters including bushfires,” Victoria Police said in an online statement.
“The units will serve as central police coordination points for these incidents, allowing the Police Forward Commander responsible for making strategic decisions affecting members on the frontline to be based in the field, rather than managing the police response from a station or office removed from the action.”
The MPU will also be used at major events as a control centre for police and as coordination points for large-scale search and rescue operations in remote areas. It can also be used to process drug and drink driving offenders.
The MPU is one of 11 currently being delivered to Victoria Police.
