Wyndham City Council’s Truganina Security Patrol Trial is providing valuable on-the-ground insights and supporting practical actions to enhance community safety.
Now at the half-way point of the trial, the patrols have logged 478 incident reports over 45 patrol nights up to 12 January.
Since commencing on 10 November 2025, the trial has operated consistently within the Truganina trial area, with two marked patrol vehicles deployed from 10pm to 6am.
Most activity has involved passive deterrence, including advising residents when garage doors had been in left open, or cars had been left running. Other activity included welfare checks and reporting suspicious vehicles or suspicious activities.
Mayor, Councillor Josh Gilligan said the trial was delivering practical outcomes and visibility that Council would not otherwise have.
"The first quarter results from our Truganina security patrol trial are better than first thought and are clearly working to deliver a safer Truganina and community confidence in local community safety solutions.
"The security patrol pilot, ending in April this year, gives us clear evidence that a small amount of funding towards local neighbourhood solutions can drive crime prevention in our newer estates,” Cr Gilligan said.
"The door remains open for a post-trial neighbourhood patrol model delivered through body corporates to assist other parts of our city with the crime crisis.
“However, it will require political will from the state to support us in the expansion of the trial, or the program will be dead as we deal with the pressures of the state's rate capping system.”
“This trial is giving us important data that will help inform what we do as a Council to make our whole community safer,” he said.
“It is helping Council better understand where issues are occurring and what patterns are emerging - information we simply wouldn’t have had in the same way without this program.”
Where appropriate, the patrols have reported issues to Victoria Police, Ambulance and Fire services.
“Importantly, this is not a substitute for Police. Patrols do not have enforcement powers, their role is to observe and report, and to escalate to emergency services when needed,” Cr Gilligan said.
“The trial has also helped identify early hotspot themes and patterns that Council and our Police liaison can use to sharpen prevention messaging and broader community safety responses.”
“The early results show the program is working even better than intended,” Cr Gilligan said.
“We’ll use these insights to focus on targeted prevention and practical measures that make a real difference for residents.”