Last weekend while running I had to cross the road to avoid around eight seriously drug affected and disorderly folk sprawling across the pavement near my home in St Kilda.

St Kilda in winter. Credit:The Age

On the way back from my run I spoke with a neighbour, who had diverted a family of Canadian tourists from encountering a couple having flagrant public sex in a nearby park by the local children’s playground. St Kilda is a popular tourist family destination and represents Melbourne and Australia to overseas visitors.

On Monday evening when I called police seeking advice or assistance for a woman screaming obscenities from her tent pitched in the shadows of Luna Park, I was told she "clearly has mental health issues but is happy enough".

Later in the week, as I walked my dog before work, right before me in a laneway off my street was a man trying to inject himself. Blood dripped down his arm as he was trying to get the needle in the right spot.