There are calls for Victoria Police to use water cannons then next time peaceful protests turn violent.
Australia has watched in horror as people demonstrated through the streets of Melbourne against mandatory Covid-19 vaccines for the construction industry.
What started out as a largely calm rally turned into something shocking; with police officers injured, healthcare workers spat at, urine being thrown at a reporter, and protestors gathering on the Shrine of Remembrance.
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While the three consecutive days of large scale protests were started by tradies and their concerns over their rights, the movement was quickly hijacked by anti-lockdown, anti-vaccine and far-right activists.
It was a very different scene yesterday (September 23), as not many people gathered to make the rolling protests go into a fourth day.
But if the city expects to see protests similar to what we saw earlier in the week, then Jeff Mawkes wants police to up the ante.
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Victoria Police's former riot squad chief is calling on the force to use water cannons to make sure protestors can't do the same amount of damage seen on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
He told the Herald Sun: "Sometimes, you've got to think outside the square. The weather's going to improve so the quicker the better. This (the protest action) is not going to go away for quite a long time."
When he was the head of the Riot Squad, he suggested to his higher ups that they should ready the water cannons for the 2000 World Economic Forum, however he was knocked back.
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Former Inspector Mawkes has suggested that if water cannons couldn't be used then police should deploy tear gas faster.
Tear gas has certainly be used this week and was fired at protestors who gathered at the Shrine of Remembrance during a tense standoff with police.
A officer who wished to remain nameless explained to the Herald Sun that Victoria's Charter of Human Rights is what the force uses to dictate how they respond to mass demonstrations and riots.
The first police-operated water cannon happened in Germany in the 1930s and while it's usually thought of as a non-lethal form of crowd control, it can lead to serious injury and subsequent death.
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There have been deaths in Indonesia, Ukraine, Zimbabwe, South Korea and Turkey after the water was laced with poisons, caused massive panic, or were fired in freezing temperatures.
Australia's first purchase of a police-operated water cannon came in 2007 ahead of an APEC meeting in Sydney. It didn't end up being used during the meeting.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Australia