The organiser of a community campaign which is pushing for a police station in Mernda has condemned a proposed Victoria Police reform that will lead to fewer frontline officers.
A report released on Tuesday by Chief Commissioner Ken Lay outlines some of the most dramatic changes in Victoria Police’s history and concedes that the force is struggling to cope with demand.
It also states more frontline officers and stations will not reduce crime and reveals that under the proposal police jobs will be outsourced to private companies, volunteers will help sworn officers, and underperforming officers will be sacked.
But Whittlesea resident Tom Joseph says the drastic changes could have a detrimental impact on the safety of the city, which he says already has a “pressing need” for a greater police presence.
Mr Joseph said that if the changes were implemented the establishment of a police station in Mernda or Doreen would be even more unlikely.
He started the campaign last year amid increasing concern among residents about rising house and business break-ins, and hoon driving. The campaign for a full-time police presence in the Mernda-Doreen area, launched on Facebook in December, has generated almost 5000 “likes”.
Star Weekly reported last week that Victoria Police statistics show an overall increase in crime in Whittlesea of 11.4 per cent last calendar year.
Mr Joseph said that in the past month dozens of homes and businesses had been robbed. Some had been targeted numerous times. He said robberies were a daily occurrence in the municipality.
“For any sensible person that would mean you put more police there locally to bring crime under control.
“You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to know that if police are accessible to people, crime will come down. The new concept being proposed by Victoria Police is a concept that’s bound to fail. I’m saddened to say that the cost of this reform is at the expense of the safety and security of people in Melbourne’s north where crime continues to rise.” Mr Joseph said the establishment of a police station in Mernda needed to be at the forefront of a political campaign before the November state election.
The campaign is being driven by members of the multicultural association and Mernda and District Residents Association.
For more information, visit www.facebook.com/MerndaNeedsaPoliceStation
