MELBOURNE, 13 September 2022: If you are on a bus, tram, or train and see unwanted sexual behaviour and anti-social behaviour, then text to 0499 455 455, a new dedicated service now in operation across Victoria.
Unwanted behaviours, according to Victoria Police, include unwanted sexual behaviour, suspicious behaviour, behaviour incident, language incident, drug and/or alcohol related, and graffiti and/or property damage. The text or photo (If it is safe to take it) you send are called STOPIT notifications. Once you do the texting or send photos, the police will act.
Meanwhile, the first arrest through SPOTIT has led to the arrest of a man over a series of indecent acts spanning five months. The man, 20, was arrested on Friday morning, 2 September. It comes after a 22-year-old woman travelling on a city-bound train from Ballarat on 23 July used STOPIT to notify police of a man performing an explicit sexual act next to her, says a Victoria Police media release.
The SPOTIT service is the first of its kind in Australia and more information can be obtained at https://www.police.vic.gov.au/stopit.
