News

The Salvation Army’s ‘Street Teams’ initiative will be the topic of conversation at the Policing Global Cities conference in London attended by policing and city leaders from around the world, including Melbourne Lord Mayer Robert Doyle and Police Superintendent Rod Wilson.

The conference will involve discussions around ways to reduce crime rates and what other cities are doing to combat crime. 

The Street Teams initiative will be discussed by the Lord Mayor as a contributing factor to reducing crime rates in Melbourne. In the CBD, the overall crime rate including assaults, is down by 3 per cent.

The Street Teams are an idea from The Salvation Army’s Major Brendan Nottle, Commanding Officer at Melbourne Project 614.  In response to increasing cases of violence and disorder on the streets at night, The Salvation Army introduced street teams to provide a positive influence at night amongst the party-goers and revellers over the weekend.

The teams are made up of trained young people who work with police at night and into the early hours of the morning to help people affected by drug or alcohol. They provide water, blankets and rubber thongs to those in need.