The Melbourne suburbs where security guards are forced to carry guns

Private security guards patrolling housing estates in Melbourne’s outer west will start carrying guns before the end of the year as they face an unprecedented wave of violent home invasions, carjackings and machete attacks.

Torched stolen cars, high-speed chases, machete slashings and bloodied streets have become all too frequent in the city’s booming western fringe, where police are often stretched thin, and youth gangs are going to war.

“The escalation to firearms is because of what’s coming our way and the threats against our safety, against my team,” said Grant Burton, the owner of security company YPG Risk, whose night patrols are funded by housing estate residents.

“We have to ensure that our staff go home to their families. We are all residents of the west,” he said.

“We have no option but to go from baton to firearm.”

Early this month, youths driving a stolen car rammed one of the company’s vehicles in Manor Lakes, injuring the guard inside. Burton says staff regularly receive death threats from gang members and increasingly confront offenders armed with machetes and knives. In the past, Burton has needed stitches after his face was slashed with knuckle dusters. He’s also had a bottle smashed over his head.

Under current regulations, security guards are not allowed to carry controlled weapons such as capsicum spray or Tasers, but they can apply for a gun licence under strict conditions.

The Age is strengthening its focus on Melbourne’s booming west with a special series examining the positives and challenges the region faces. Later this week, our reporters will moderate a West of Melbourne Economic Development Alliance’s (WoMEDA) summit to discuss a vision for the western suburbs’ success.

A dumping ground for ‘hotties’

For the past three years, residents and developers of housing estates in Wyndham Vale, Manor Lakes and Mambourin have paid Burton’s business to conduct security patrols over concerns about rising crime and police response times. Wyndham and Maribyrnong councils have also hired guards.

Security guard Grant Burton checks an abandoned car in Manor Lakes during a night patrol.Credit: Alex Coppel

Earlier this month, this masthead spent more than six hours on a night patrol with Burton. As he drove through the rabbit warren of residential streets, he responded to alerts of youth gang members driving around in a stolen SUV and an attempted break-in at a construction site.

The police helicopter hovered above the area for part of the night, but there were no marked police cars in sight.

“These boys will definitely be on the prowl tonight if they are in hotties,” Burton said.

“Hottie” is underworld slang for a stolen car used by crooks to commit serious crimes, such as aggravated burglaries, firebombings or drive-by shootings. Burton said Manor Lakes, where new residential estates sit next to empty blocks and construction sites, had become a dumping ground for the coveted underworld commodity.

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The first arrest of the night came after 3am, when Burton stopped a motorbike rider carrying a drill and bolt cutters. He was on bail after being caught driving a stolen car.

“You’re carrying burglary tools, mate. No honest person walks the streets of this area with a drill and bolt cutters in their bike,” Burton told the man as he waited for the police to arrive.

Burton said the number of areas looking to hire private security had exploded. His company has received requests from estates in Truganina, Point Cook, Tarneit and Hoppers Crossing, as well as communities as far away as Pakenham, Cranbourne, and Rosebud.

His guards are the closest it gets to police without going through the Victoria Police academy. They carry bulletproof vests, batons, handcuffs and body-worn cameras. Their vehicles are fitted with licence plate readers that can tap into the state’s stolen car database.

“Every night, we’re attending to no less than 15 phone calls across our cars, and they’re all genuine calls,” Burton said.

“I’m not sure where the solution lies, but Victoria Police aren’t at fault. They can’t attend every call when you’ve got how many residents in the western corridor calling one police station in Werribee?”

Data from the Crime Statistics Agency shows serious crimes such as assaults and home invasions have soared in almost all parts of the west.

In Wyndham, the number of recorded thefts rose by almost 44 per cent in the year to June 2025. A record 2300 home invasions also occurred, compared with 1551 the previous year.

The number of under-age offenders in Wyndham has almost doubled since electronic records began in 2016, with more than 1100 children charged in the past year, compared with 586 nine years ago. In Melton, that number has grown by 73 per cent.

“It’s a revolving door of crime,” Burton said.

“We’re seeing kids under 14-15 breaking into cars and climbing people’s backyard fences, and committing burglaries and home invasions, and being in stolen cars every single day of the week.”

Police say many youth gangs are based in the west, particularly in Wyndham and Brimbank, although new gangs are also rising in the south-east.

Dau Akueng, 15 (left), and Chol Achiek, 12, were attacked and killed in Cobblebank last month.

In the year to the end of September, police arrested 494 youth gang members a combined 1595 times across Melbourne and laid more than 4600 charges. Investigators are actively monitoring 622 youth gang members. Of those, 67 were arrested more than 10 times.

In July, Manor Lakes College was sent into lockdown after a group of alleged offenders armed with machetes crashed a stolen Porsche into a nearby oval and stormed the school’s grounds.

In early September, Chol Achiek, 12, and Dau Akueng, 15, were killed in an ambush in Cobblebank. Five boys and three men have been charged with murder.

Earlier this month, police arrested more than 50 alleged burglars, car thieves and dangerous drivers as part of an operation in Brimbank and Melton that also recovered six stolen cars, several bladed weapons and a firearm.

Spotlight on crime prevention

Some councils have increased outreach initiatives and hired private security patrols to deter crime. But they feel there’s only so much they can do.

“A stronger and better-resourced police response is urgently required – not only to enforce the law but also to restore community confidence. Preventing crime before it happens must go hand-in-hand with timely and effective responses when offences occur,” Brimbank mayor Thuy Dang said.

Navin Dhillon runs crime prevention programs across the city’s north-west for the Youth Support and Advocacy Service (YSAS). He said that a decade ago, the service used to get referrals for youths caught stealing chocolate from a milk bar. Now they are for serious violent crimes.

Navin Dhillon, who runs crime prevention programs, says acute support services in the west are at capacity.Credit: Justin McManus

Dhillon said most youth offenders had a complex background, which often involved a combination of childhood trauma, substance abuse, school disengagement and homelessness, but acute support services in the west were at capacity.

“The reality is that Melbourne’s west is booming. You’ve got new suburbs being built even before there’s a train line, even before there’s a school, or community hub, or a childcare centre,” Dhillon said.

Ashoup Atar, chief executive of Kowanj Australasia, a not-for-profit organisation offering employment and education support for new migrants, said many youths dropped out of school in year 9 and spiralled into offending and reckless behaviour.

“Our schools need to have better engagement with parents and the community,” she said.

Ashoup Atar, chief executive of Kowanj Foundation, said schools had a role to play in deterring reckless behaviour.Credit: Wayne Taylor

In March, the Victorian government toughened bail laws to make it harder for repeat offenders to get bail. It has also banned machetes and introduced machete amnesty bins at select police stations.

“We are listening to victims of crime and Victorians, and we are acting,” a government spokesperson said.

“Our record investment in Victoria Police has delivered 144 new police officers for the west and the world-class Wyndham 24-hour police complex – the largest police station outside the CBD.”

The opposition has promised to give sweeping powers to police to search people for knives, and a boot camp-style program for serious young offenders if it wins next year’s state election.

In Wyndham, Victoria Police has been running regular operations targeting carjackings, home invasions and vehicle crime since 2022. It has also partnered with youth programs such as Blue Eagle and YSAS.

“Local police are working extremely hard to combat rising crime and ... conduct a number of regular operations to target hot-spot areas and repeat offenders,” a police spokesperson said.

“We have scores of police – including the air wing and dog squad – targeting high-harm crime while the community sleeps.”

The West of Melbourne Summit, presented by WoMEDA with The Age, will be held on October 22-23. For details go to womeda.com.au

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