Victoria Police is encouraging people to flock to Melbourne's Moomba celebrations without fear as a visibly larger police presence is dispatched after violent youth riots last year.
Deputy Commissioner Andrew Crisp says officers have been honing their skills at each public event since last year's Moomba festival, and are better equipped.
The new 24-hour monitoring and assessment centre will be feeding information to officers on the scene, and was used successfully at the White Night event a few weeks ago.
"There were some young people that came into the city that had an intent to actually cause harm," Mr Crisp said on Thursday.
"But again through some excellent planning, the resources that we put in place, we were able to disrupt that particular activity."
Plain-clothes police officers will be dispersed alongside the usual uniformed officers with help from the air wing, water police and the public order response team.
Gangs were blamed for the 2016 Moomba riot that started at Federation Square and continued up Swanston St, with up to 200 people wielding chairs as weapons and brawling in the street.
Police Minister Lisa Neville says police have made significant progress in tackling the youth gangs associated with the Moomba riots and a spate of car jackings and home invasions.
"I think it's sitting at more than 452 arrests of those group of people doing car thefts, and the sort of gang activity that was termed," she said.
"So I think there has been significant disruption of those activities."
Police will also have special search and seize powers around the Moomba area in the city, something they enact during large events like White Night and New Years and did so during last year's event.
"My key message to all the families out there, to anyone that's in the city is come along to Moomba," Mr Crisp said.
