Victoria City Police Union is recommending its members enter the 900-block of Pandora in groups.
This follows last week's assault against a paramedic that resulted in a confrontation between police and the public on the block.
"Our advice as a union executive is that our members no longer attend calls there without strength in numbers," Union spokesperson Joan Elliott told C-FAX 1070's Adam Stirling. She says that there was a time when one to two officers could enter the area, but a lack of bylaw enforcement has led to entrenchment.
Elliott says they don't want people to get the wrong idea about why they want to see officers travel in groups, "we don't want a false narrative to be portrayed by the advocates on the block that we're responding with force and aggression. That is simply not the case. But what's happening right now with our members is simply our attendance there is turning the temperature on the block from a five to a seven."
Police attendance is ramping up, as the assault on a paramedic resulted in a change in policy where medical first responders now need to be escorted by police in the 900 block of Pandora.
Elliott says the union wants to see more wrap-around services to help address some of the problems that officers are encountering.