Chief Commissioner Ashton told The Age, the weapons were designed for: ‘‘Major incidents of public disorder, demonstrations that go over the top and where we need to disperse large crowds that are out of control. We need the community to be with us on this.’’ He warned that while there was a need for the equipment, ‘‘It is an ugly look to see police in riot gear in a suburban street. We now have some equipment that has not been seen before that may alarm people.’’ A foam baton round will become part of Victoria Police's non-lethal arsenal. Credit:Jason South Police believe the equipment lowers the risk of serious injuries to police, rioters and members of the public as it should decrease hand-to-hand physical contact, baton strikes and reduce the risk of police being struck by projectiles. At a violent demonstration in Kensington in December, eight police were struck on their riot helmets with bottles, bricks and rocks. All eight $1500 helmets were destroyed. ‘‘Our members would have been seriously injured if not for the helmets,’’ said Superintendent Tim Tully of the Operations Support Division

He said the new weapons will be available around the clock and can be called upon by local police dealing with flash riots that have occurred when parties have been swamped by hundreds of gatecrashers. Victoria Police show off some of the new riot gear. Credit:Jason South There have been several recent cases where outnumbered police have not been able to enter out-of-control parties for fear of escalating violence. There have been times police have allowed property damage because of the risk that intervention would have sparked a riot. Superintendent Tully said Operational Response Unit riot police, dressed in new ultra-light body armour, will be present at events that are likely to become violent such as ultra-right protests that usually result in confrontations with the fringe left. ‘‘There has been an increase in violent crowd behaviour in recent years. We respect the community’s right to gather and demonstrate peacefully but we need to be equipped and trained to minimise harm,’’ Superintendent Tully said.

‘‘The purpose is to keep public order while minimising the risk of injuries to police, the public and offenders.’’ Police will use a riot command truck to record violent demonstrations and running street battles similar to Moomba two years ago to gather evidence against suspects who escape the net at the time. The new pepper ball semi-automatic rifle that will be used by Victoria Police. Credit:Jason South The pepper ball gun will be used to fire dye pellets onto the body of offenders so they can be followed and arrested. Superintendent Tully said the capsicum dust pellet rounds can be fired at an offender to disable them or can be rapid fired into the ground to set up a stinging dust wall to stop crowds from advancing or to separate warring groups.

He said the pepper ball gun and 40-millimetre launcher allowed police to respond to bottle throwers without needing to charge into crowds. ‘‘It is all about having options,’’ he said. He said the decision to display the equipment was to ‘‘make the community aware that the purpose is minimise the risk of harm at potentially dangerous events. We will be able to ramp up or down our response depending on the circumstances.’’