Tara Murray
Residents of the growing suburbs of Mickleham, Donnybrook and Kalkallo are calling for a police station to be built in the area.
The nearest police stations are in Craigieburn and Epping.
Donnybrook resident Shashi Pal said residents were concerned about the amount of crime in the area.
“The nearest stations are quite far away,” he said.
“We have growing suburbs and they are growing in a fast way.
“Parked cars outside are an issue and people are having things like tools stolen. Things from people’s front yards are being taken.
“They’re calling the police and no one is turning up.”
Mr Pal recently attended a forum hosted by opposition police spokesperson and Northern Metropolitan Liberal MP Evan Mulholland to discuss residents’ safety concerns.
Mr Pal said a police station was needed, and in the short-term more patrols would help the community.
Mr Mulholland has launched a petition calling for a police station to be built.
“The latest crime data shows that motor vehicle theft is up by nearly a third in the city of Hume, with more than two cars stolen every day,” he said.
“Criminal incidents overall are up by more than 12 per cent.
“As we are planning for more growth, community safety becomes even more important.”
Star Weekly understands there are no plans to build a station in Mickleham, Kalkallo and Donnybrook.
A Victoria Police spokesperson said police are patrolling the Hume and Whittlesea areas at all times of the day and night.
“We know it is more effective to be out in the community, preventing and quickly responding to crime and road incidents,” the spokesperson said.
“Anyone from Donnybrook, Mickleham and Kalkallo can attend the Craigieburn police station which is about 10 minutes away from each area, and is open 24-hours every day.
“Neighbouring stations such as Mernda and Whittlesea are also available for residents of these areas to attend.
“In addition to the ongoing patrols and operations police are running in these areas, we also regularly utilise mobile police units for community engagement days.
“These pop up days were recently run in Mickleham and Kalkallo, and allow police to have a strong presence at busy shopping centres and transport hubs to engage with the community, share information and form stronger bonds with residents and traders.”
A state government police spokesperson said there had been funding for more than 3600 new police officers, 175 of which are for the Hume and 186 are for Whittlesea.
