EXPANDED police patrols at Bayside Shopping Centre are set to continue into the next school holidays and into future busy periods.
Victoria Police launched “Operation Pulse” last December, dedicating more police resources to shopping centres statewide. Since December more than 1600 people have been arrested as part of the operation.
In a statement, Victoria Police said “plans are underway to ensure the expanded approach to all nine centres will occur during the next school holidays and high demand periods. This includes Pacific Werribee, Bayside Frankston, Highpoint, Fountain Gate, Northland, Watergardens, Southland, Eastland and key CBD retail locations in Geelong.
“All shifts are voluntary, meaning there is no impact on the rail networks or frontline policing as officers are working at shopping centres in addition to existing shifts.”
In total, police working on the operation have laid more than 3300 charges, with shop steal and drug offences the most common. 285 drug seizures have been recorded, and 243 weapons have been seized.
Operation Pulse acting assistant commissioner Matt Baynes said the most recent school holidays “was a peak time for our shopping centres, so it was important that both retailers and shoppers had a sense of safety and security.
“Operation Pulse is already seeing a bolstering of resources at shopping centres, and we will look to further this during peak times such as school holidays and Black Friday sales moving forward,” he said. “There is no doubt Operation Pulse is improving safety at shopping centres, with significant offending having been prevented.”
First published in the Frankston Times – 29 July 2026
