In the tree-lined streets of Caulfield, a police vehicle slows down and veers unexpectedly into a side street.
It’s not responding to an emergency call – this deliberate diversion is part of Operation Park, Victoria Police’s ongoing response to protecting Melbourne’s Jewish community from antisemitic threats.
“It’s about being seen in places that people don’t expect,” explains Senior Sergeant Al Farrell, commander of the Caulfield Police Station, who is driving the patrol vehicle.
“People want to know that the police are out and about. If they see us in a place they don’t expect, it just brings it front of mind that we’re there looking after people’s homes.”
As well as Operation Park in Victoria, the Australian Federal Police have launched their own initiative, Special Operation Avalite, while the NSW Police initiated Operation Shelter following the October 7, 2023 atrocities in Israel and subsequently Strike Force Pearl, a joint operation targeting a crime network allegedly involved in antisemitic attacks, including property damage, graffiti and arson targeting Jewish sites. These all reflect a coordinated national approach to protecting Jewish communities across Australia’s eastern states during these challenging times.
A major security operation
Operation Park commenced as a proactive response to concerns about increased antisemitism following the Hamas attack on Israel.
Since then, police have conducted more than 6500 patrols of Jewish sites across Melbourne, including synagogues, schools and community hubs.
“We’re trying to provide reassurance to the community with these visible patrols,” explains Superintendent Martin Bourke, divisional commander of Glen Eira, Bayside and Kingston.
“It becomes a balance, because you don’t want to create anxiety by having too many police driving around schools, for example, but we’re trying to be out there, be visible.”
That visibility has resulted in 125 arrests under Operation Park, for offences including antisemitic graffiti, performing the Nazi salute and verbal abuse directed at Jewish people in public spaces.
Photo: Peter Haskin
Superintendent Bourke explains the importance of cultural understanding when responding to what might initially appear to be minor incidents.
“We’re constantly telling our members, if you saw some antisemitic graffiti on a letterbox in isolation, that may seem a low-level sort of crime,” he says.
“But they’ve got to look at the history that a Nazi symbol, for example, would have, and the impact on that family and community.”
Dealing with local threats
During our ride-along, we witnessed a security briefing between Senior Sergeant Farrell and Rod Gardiner, a security guard for Yeshivah College.
Gardiner, whose imposing uniformed presence serves as a deterrent, detailed a recent concerning incident.
“Lately we’ve had one particular individual who claims he’s Jewish, but he’s very antisemitic,” Gardiner explained.
“I had a run-in with him the other day, [he was] sticking up stickers on the signs, and also the bus stop. Very aggressive individual, but we’ll keep an eye out for him and we’ll deal with him.”
The exchange highlighted the daily vigilance required from both police and security personnel in monitoring potential threats.
“Mainly, it’s antisemitic,” Gardiner said when asked about security concerns at Yeshivah College.
“Of late, there’s been a big ramp-up with what’s going on overseas, so we’re more diligent. We’ve always been happy, but now we’ve just stepped up a bit more, more patrols, more presence.”
Gardiner described his team’s role as “a uniformed arm deterring” potential incidents.
“If people consider coming on this site to do bad things to the community, we will enforce or we will stop them, and we will engage them. Our role is to protect the community.”
Photo: Peter Haskin
Gardiner describes the relationship with Victoria Police as “very good”.
“We communicate very well. We are on the same page,” he says.
“We know our limitations, although we have certain powers, but our go-to will be CSG and Victoria Police.”
Gardiner explains the division of responsibilities.
“We’re designed to be a uniformed armed deterrent to prevent crime … Victoria Police normally rock up after the event, make the arrest or deal with the situations.”
Community feedback
Throughout our ride-along, Senior Sergeant Farrell exchanges waves with community members who clearly recognise him.
Having been stationed at Caulfield since September 2023, he’s made building relationships a priority.
“I like to make myself fairly accountable,” he says.
“You do get to know people, and that’s through just doing the old-fashioned sort of getting out, talking to people and seeing what they’ve got to say to us.”
For many residents, the increased police presence has been reassuring.
Rabbi Shmuel Karnowsky, who serves as both rabbi at Central Shule in Caulfield and as a Victoria Police chaplain, believes the operation has strengthened community-police relations.
“I think it’s going really, really well. We get a good presence, we get good support,” Rabbi Karnowsky says.
“I think the community is feeling that they recognise that local police are doing what they can. They’re there for the community, they communicate with the community and we appreciate what they’re doing for us.”
This sentiment appears to be shared by many in the community.
Superintendent Bourke recalls attending the October 7 anniversary memorial service in Moorabbin last year.
“I actually went along to that event and stood out front of the venue for the night,” he says.
“In my career, I’ve never had so many thank-yous from the community.”
Learning curve
Operation Park has brought police officers from outside the area into Caulfield, many of whom have limited prior experience working with the Jewish community.
This presents both challenges and opportunities for cultural education.
“For some, it’s definitely an eye-opener,” Senior Sergeant Farrell acknowledges.
“There’s even little things like protocols that some members may not be fully across and some religious sensitivities.”
To address this, Victoria Police conducts quarterly cultural awareness tours with the Jewish community.
These include presentations at the Community Security Group (CSG), visits to the Melbourne Holocaust Museum – often featuring testimonies from Holocaust survivors – and sessions with police chaplains.
Rabbi Karnowsky has taken an active role in this education process.
“I actually make a point to send out to all the local stations and the local areas a brief on Pesach so they know the language, they know the traditions, they expect the extra foot traffic and so on,” he explains.
He’s also discovered something unexpected about the officers he works with.
“They love learning about tradition. They love learning about the community in which they are.”
One key aspect of Operation Park’s effectiveness has been collaboration with community security organisations.
Superintendent Bourke meets monthly with representatives from the Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV) and CSG to review incidents and coordinate patrol strategies.
Measuring success
Despite these efforts, challenges remain.
Authorities have yet to identify those responsible for the Adass Israel Synagogue firebombing, and antisemitic incidents continue to occur across Melbourne.
Senior Sergeant Farrell believes the true measure of Operation Park’s success goes beyond statistics.
“There’s probably a couple of ways to measure its effectiveness. One is the feedback we get from the community, where they feel supported, where they feel safe,” he explains.
“The second is purely statistics-based – have the incidents of crime in the area dropped, stabilised, levelled off?
“But I think the ultimate one is: do people just feel safe to go about their business, happy to live their lives in Caulfield and feel comfortable to do so?”
When asked about criticism from some community members regarding police handling of recent CBD demonstrations involving Jewish protesters, Rabbi Karnowsky is unequivocal in his support for Victoria Police.
“I have full faith in the work that Victoria Police does. They do their very, very best under extremely difficult circumstances,” he says.
“I’m not here to comment on operational matters, but as a whole, especially here locally, we feel supported. We feel looked after.”
Superintendent Bourke emphasises that Operation Park will continue as long as necessary.
“We really understand the apprehension, the fear, the concerns that the Jewish community currently have,” he says.
“We’re putting dedicated resources into the Glen Eira and Port Phillip communities every day. We’re working hard with the community as best we can to protect them.”
As our ride-along concludes and Senior Sergeant Farrell returns to Caulfield Police Station, the true significance of Operation Park becomes clear.
Patrolling the streets of Caulfield today, one can sense both the lingering anxiety and the determined resolve that defines our community at the moment.
And in every unexpected turn down a quiet side street, every wave exchanged between officer and resident, there exists a powerful message – that here, at least, no one stands alone.
comments