Operation Park marks three years

Victoria Police says it will keep doing everything it can to protect the Jewish community, as Operation Park marks three years since it was established.

Glen Eira, Bayside and Kingston Superintendent Martin Bourke said events overseas and in Australia had changed the way Victoria Police supported the Jewish community.

“We’ve had to adapt to a changing world,” he said.

“Victoria Police has undertaken almost 20,000 patrols as part of Operation Park and we will continue to do everything we can to not only ensure the Jewish community is safe but feels safe too.”

Bourke said members of the community continued to be subjected to vile acts of hate, from verbal abuse to graffiti, assaults and death threats. “This behaviour is not welcome towards anyone in our community and the message from Victoria Police is that we simply won’t tolerate it.”

The operation began immediately after the October 7 attacks in 2023 to monitor and coordinate the investigation of offences linked to the conflict in the Middle East.

Police have patrolled synagogues, community halls and other places of Jewish cultural significance almost every day since, with about 85 per cent of patrols in Melbourne’s southeast, particularly Balaclava, Caulfield, Elsternwick, Ripponlea and St Kilda.

Patrols are stepped up on Shabbat and during periods of cultural significance. Around 1800 policing hours were dedicated to patrols in the southeast alone during the High Holy Days, between September 11 and October 4.

Over the past three years, Victoria Police has received 588 reports of antisemitism, including hate speech, vandalism, assaults and intimidation. Police have undertaken almost 1200 investigations into prejudice-motivated crimes, resulting in 316 arrests.

The most significant ongoing investigation concerns the firebombing of the Adass Israel synagogue in Ripponlea on December 6, 2024. The Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team has charged three men over their alleged roles in the attack, and a fourth man is accused of stealing a car allegedly used to drive to the synagogue.

More than 750 police officers and employees have completed Jewish cultural awareness training.

Since the Bondi massacre on December 14, 2025, officers patrolling significant Jewish community events have carried longarms.