Mill Park police station is still understaffed despite Victoria Police agreeing to provide more staff.
Police Association assistant secretary Bruce McKenzie said
officers were being used as “jailers” to guard offenders in police
cells, instead of responding to call-outs.
He said nine officers, including three of the station’s 10
sergeants, were rostered on guard duty over three shifts daily, taking
them off the road.
Mill Park police submitted a business plan to Victoria Police,
arguing for an additional four sergeants and 10 officers, but police
command agreed to provide only two more sergeants and five officers.
“Hopefully, these will be new positions that are created and are not taking police from elsewhere,” Mr McKenzie said.
“The holding cells issue is a significant problem at Mill Park
where it is worse than most stations in the state. Victoria Police would
be just as frustrated as the police association because the prisoners
should be in Office of Corrections facilities.”
He said previous state governments had not provided enough jails
and “the planning for prisons in 2013 should have been done at least a
decade ago”.
Whittlesea’s Inspector Bob Dykstra said police command had advised
him Mill Park station was to get extra staff but “we haven’t been given
a deployment date”.
He said although the holding cells had sleeping facilities for 10,
they could be used for up to 17 prisoners over a 24-hour period, with
prisoners coming and going.
He said that the Mill Park police cells held 405 prisoners in August, up 11 per cent on the previous month.
