Custody officers have been deployed to Broadmeadows in a bid to help police get out from behind their desks and back on the streets.
The station was assigned its first team of four police custody officers last week. Further squads will be rolled out over the next three years.
Broadmeadows’ custody officers are among 400 officers that the state government plans to train and deploy to 22 police stations.
Custody officers have already been assigned to Sunshine, Dandenong, Heidelberg, Ballarat, Bendigo and Geelong under the $148 million initiative.
The custody officers will be responsible for processing and supervising detained people, managing visitors to police cells, arranging access to health services, and other administrative duties to support police.
They will be employed as public servants and will not carry weapons, but will have the power to search prisoners and use reasonable force to maintain the security and safety of police cells.
Broadmeadows MP Frank McGuire welcomed the addition of custody officers to Broadmeadows, which is one of the state’s busiest police stations.
“The new custody officers will get more police on the front line and free them up to be of greater benefit to community safety,” he said.
