Far-right vigilante group patrolling Aussie streets to combat crime wave

A vigilante group has been taken to patrolling the streets of inner-Melbourne to protect residents against criminal gangs in the city.

The "Soldiers of Odin Australia", a self-proclaimed far-right "patriot" group originating in Finland, is patrolling Melbourne landmarks such as Federation Square, Birrarung Marr, the Bourke Street Mall and city train stations every night.

The group, whose members wear distinctive black jackets emblazoned with a Norse war helmet and Australian flag, is the first vigilante-style organization to operate in Melbourne's CBD and is starting to expand into the outer suburbs of Melbourne.

Jay Moore, the national president of the group, said the patrols have come in response to the Apex crime gang, a street gang responsible for rising aggravated burglaries and car thefts across Melbourne.

"We're fed up and our communities are fed up," Moore told Fairfax Media on Monday.

"We're going where Apex and other gangs are popping up and causing trouble."

"The kind of violence we are seeing on the streets is not something our culture is used to. Our main goal is to make and keep our streets safe. We stand for old-school Aussie values."

Victoria Police said while they were aware of the group they rejected the notion that the city has been rocked by a crime wave, with recent Crime Statistics Agency data revealing crime rates in the CBD fell 0.5 percent in the past year.

Other community groups are uneasy about the emergence of unauthorized vigilante squads. "I've never come across anything like this before in Melbourne," Brendan Nottle, CEO of the Salvation Army, told Fairfax on Monday.

"The city doesn't need that kind of intimidatory appearance or punitive approach on the streets."

Moore, who maintained that while the Soldiers of Odin was "anti-immigration" and "anti-Islam", the group was not racist. He said the patrols had not been involved in any violent altercations.

"A big part of what we do is about having a visual presence -- being proactive. As long as we've deterred anything from happening, that's good," Moore said. Endit