Statement from Victoria Police
- Published June 14 2024
- Media Statement
A statement from Victoria Police to the broader community.
Victoria Police takes any report of racial or religiously motivated crimes extremely seriously.
Operation Park was established to monitor and coordinate the investigation of offences associated with the Middle East conflict.
Between 7 October 2023 and 11 June 2024, Operation Park has been notified of 197 incidents, with 88 reports relating to antisemitic incidents and 16 reports relating to Islamophobia.
These prejudice motivated crimes include offences where people, property or institutions have been targeted due to their apparent religious affiliation.
In addition to these crimes, there have been 93 incidents where political beliefs are the apparent motive. Of those, 87 were politically motivated by opposition to Israel’s Gaza policy and six incidents were politically motivated against Pro-Palestine views.
Police have already arrested 60 people over these matters. There is no place in our community for hate crimes of any kind. Victoria Police will never condone anyone who attacks another person with differing views to their own.
The most common offences reported since October 7, 2023, include criminal damage (graffiti), bill posting (stickers and posters) and offensive behaviour such as verbal abuse.
A total of 18 incidents, or less than 10% of all reports, involved direct physical violence, such as an assault or robbery.
56 investigations into reported antisemitic/Islamophobic incidents have already been completed and finalised, while the remaining incidents are still under investigation.
Police continue to regularly engage with the Palestinian and Jewish communities, including regular meetings with community leaders, proactive patrolling, and supporting community events.
A total of 258 other prejudice motivated incidents have been reported to Operation Park since 7 October 2023, however these have no link to the Middle East conflict.
These reports relate to people, property, or institutions being targeted due to factors such as their race, religion, or sexual orientation.
For media inquiries, please contact the JCCV on +61 3 9272 5566 or email community@jccv.org.au
