Councillors voted to keep the rangers on Stirling Street and surrounding areas as part of its surveillance program, which began in conjunction with WA Police in April.
A council report says that two arrests have resulted from information provided by rangers involved in the project.
The blitz involves moveable CCTV cameras, automatic number plate recognition devices and signs encouraging residents to report suspicious behaviour. Vincent Mayor Alannah MacTiernan said there was no doubt the presence of rangers and their interaction with police was having an effect in reducing sex workers in the suburb.
‘It’s obviously not sustainable to keep that effort up permanently, but at this point, while we have police engaged, we want to keep this going at that level for at least another month,’ she said.
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READ NOW‘Street prostitution in Highgate is a major problem and while it is fundamentally a State Government responsibility, we do know that the active engagement of our rangers has really helped ensure the police keep their presence there.
But Scarlet Alliance spokeswoman Rebecca Davies said problems associated with sex workers in the area were exaggerated.
She said some problems, blamed on sex workers, could instead be linked to people attending sporting matches at the nearby Perth Oval.