THREE PEOPLE were arrested for outstanding warrants as part of a police operation targeting criminal offenders and traffic offences in Creswick and Ballan late on Thursday.
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Acting Senior Sergeant Daniel York, who ran the operation, told The Courier that he was happy with the results and deemed the operation a success.
Multiple units including members from both Creswick and Ballan, the Ballarat Divisional Response Unit, Moorabool Crime Investigation Unit and Highway Patrol took to the streets and worked together during the one-day operation.
It kicked off just after 2pm, with police taking to the streets on active patrols, with others door knocking houses in search of people with outstanding warrants.
The three people who were arrested for outstanding warrants were wanted in relation to an array of property and traffic offences.
Police also issued five other arrest warrants.
In the evening, police set up roadblocks in both areas in order to target traffic offences.
Police checked 160 vehicles, conducted 134 preliminary breath tests and issued seven infringement notices, while one vehicle was impounded.
On Thursday, Acting Senior Sergeant York - police operations manager for Hepburn Shire, Golden Plains and Moorabool Shire - told The Courier that 'Operation Tirade' was an effort to increase the police presence within the communities so people felt safe and reassured.
While Creswick was selected in response to several high profile incidents such as a robbery in which $30,000 worth of cigarettes were taken from the town's supermarket, prompting calls from the community for a bigger police presence, Ballan was chosen due to the freeway running through it.
Acting Senior Sergeant York said the two towns were chosen as the first two in a series of operations police would conduct across the smaller towns in the Moorabool police service area throughout the year to continue to bolster the police presence.
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