POLICE BLAST VIGILANTE MOVE ON DRUG MENACE

FOOTSCRAY traders have vowed to video tape drug dealers and make citizens'
arrests to combat drug problems in their streets.

But the move was condemned by lawyers, politicians, police and social
workers who warned vigilante policing could backfire and someone could be
killed.

"We all admire heroes who have made citizens' arrests, but some people have
died in trying to do so," Law Institute of Victoria chief Ian Dunn said.

Debate raged yesterday after a meeting of 70 traders voted on Monday night
to buy surveillance cameras and hire security guards.

The meeting was led by Footscray Public Safety Group spokesman John
Cumming, who said the drastic measures were a response to a lack of
government action on drugs.

He said Footscray trade had slumped by 30 per cent in two years and
syringes littered the streets. "If you walk through Footscray you will be
approached to buy drugs, you will see vomit on the streets, you will see
syringes, and if you're elderly you are under threat.

"You will be asked if you have a dollar, and that is just a prelude to
being assaulted," he said.

Mr Cumming said a needle exchange in Nicholson St, Footscray, exacerbated
drug problems by attracting addicts from as far as Victoria's far west.

Police Association secretary Paul Mullett cautioned against traders taking
the law into their own hands, arguing arrests and surveillance were a role
for police.

"It's about the privatisation of part of the police service we should be
policing, but we would back their concerns it is a problem of a lack of
police resources," Sen-Sgt Mullett said.

Open Family street worker Les Twentyman also condemned the use of video
cameras and citizens' arrests. "Are we going to have John Wayne riding down
the street? It's like going back to the cowboys," he said.

City of Maribyrnong Mayor Bill Horricks said the vigilante plan was "a
gross over-reaction to what is a very complex social problem". Footscray
Labor MP Bruce Mildenhall backed calls for more police, but said Monday
night's meeting "would have done a South Dakota vigilante group proud".

Mr Mildenhall defended the needle exchange, which operates out of the
Western Region Aids Prevention office, as vital for reducing the spread of
disease.

Police Commissioner Neil Comrie said traders were pursuing an undesirable
course of action.

"We all understand the difficulties associated with the drug problems ...
law enforcement alone isn't going to solve the drug problem in Australia,"
he said.

The Community Campaign for Heroin Reform will hold a march from St Paul's
Cathedral in Swanston St to Parliament House to demand safe injecting rooms
on August 28.

And Melbourne City Council has invited the Melbourne Toy Museum – forced to
move from Smith St, Collingwood, because of drug problems – to relocate to
the Banana Alley vaults in Flinders St.