8 HEROIN SHOTS A DAY - AND SHE'S 13

A 13-YEAR-old girl with an eight-hit-a-day heroin habit was among 547
people charged during the recent blitz on street drug dealers.

The girl was also charged with an armed robbery she allegedly committed
when she was 12.

Police said she had been addicted for several years and was one of between
400 and 500 street kids living in and around the city.

They allege she fed her $200-a-day habit by stealing from purses.

She has also allegedly held people up with knives and syringes.

The police blitzes in Russell and Bourke streets in the city and Smith St,
Collingwood, turned up a number of teenage offenders, including a
14-year-old dealer.

Commander Noel Perry said the intensive blitzes had gone a long way towards
reclaiming streets plagued by drug dealing.

The undercover operation in Smith St ended on Saturday but there will be an
increased uniform presence to ensure drug dealers don't come back.

Det-Insp. Lyndsay Clark said the 13-year-old girl heroin user, originally
from a respectable eastern suburb, was a very sad case.

She came from a broken family, had been in several foster homes and was now
in the care of the Department of Human Services.

"We needed to charge the 13-year-old girl to make sure she got some proper
attention," Cdr Perry said.

Det-Insp. Clark said: "She has a history of running away to live on the
street. She's been using heroin for some time."

Det-Insp. Clark said the girl was charged in March with armed robbery as
well as using heroin.

"She was only 12 when she did the armed robbery and she did it to get money
to buy heroin," he said.

Det-Insp. Clark, who has worked in the city area for more than six years,
said she was one of the youngest heroin users he was aware of.

There were up to 500 street kids in and around Melbourne, and a lot were
heavy drug users who stole to buy heroin.

"Most of our crime in the city is drug-oriented, that's the bottom line,"
Det-Insp. Clark said.

"There are thefts from motor cars. They steal goods to go and sell.

"They choose soft targets. They go and steal purses and handbags.

"They go into commercial premises stealing laptop computers to sell. It
just goes on and on.

"It's a huge problem."

Cdr Perry, in charge of police region one - which takes in the CBD,
Collingwood, Richmond, Prahran and St Kilda to Moorabbin - said the Smith
St blitz since May 13 had resulted in 98 people charged with 283 offences,
mostly for drug trafficking.

Their average age was 24 and the youngest was a 14-year-old boy charged
with trafficking heroin. Most were not locals.

Cdr Perry said the operation in Russell and Bourke streets resulted in 449
offenders charged with 581 drug offences. Their ages ranged from 13 to 55.

He said 74 per cent of those arrested in the city operation were 23 or
under, with 86 per cent male.

Now the areas had been cleaned up he would ensure a strong police presence
was maintained.

"If we just walked away from it now the dealers would resurface," he said.

Cdr Perry said the City of Melbourne and the City of Yarra were working
closely with police.

"Police do not have the ability to eliminate the problem," he said.

"That can only be done with the will and co-operation of the whole
community in joint strategies to deal with drug users."

Cdr Perry said local councils were providing counselling and other help for
drug users and people arrested during police blitzes were being referred to
them.

"We're not just arresting users and dealers, we are getting them
professional help in the hope they will break their habit and stop
offending," he said.

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)