Pop-up police station

Acting Sergeant John Morton and his team in Craigieburn rolled out the pop-up police station to connect with the community. (Damjan Janevski). 316369_02

Millicent Spencer

Craigieburn police have popped up outside Merrifield Shopping Centre in an effort to break down barriers and connect with local residents.

Acting Sergeant John Morton said he hopes the mobile policing unit will help make officers more accessible to the community.

“It’s an opportunity to reach out to the community and give them the opportunity to tell us what they want,” he said.

“They can make reports to us [and] last time we ran this unit we found people were telling us their intel.

“This helps us in knowing where we should patrol and how we can support them.”

Acting Sergeant Morton said the mobile command centre is eye-catching and often draws intrigued locals in.

“It’s not a vehicle you see often so it’s a way to get the community to come up and have a chat,” he said.

“We’re hoping to see more of these events.”

Craigieburn Police also host the ‘Coffee with a Cop’ event where residents can chat with their local police and ask any questions they may have. For more details contact the station on 9303 4433.