ONE of Melbourne’s busiest police stations, Epping, is staffed mainly by junior constables, placing the public and officers at risk, according to the police association.
Association assistant secretary Bruce McKenzie said the novice officers could be paired together and lacked the experience to contend with volatile situations.
A police source said that of the 44 officers ranked below sergeant, 28 were “unconfirmed” constables with less than two years’ experience.
“You can get two of them responding (to a call-out) to a violent situation and they’ve got less than a year’s experience between them,” the source said.
“Despite Epping being a growing area, they (police command) have only allocated one extra officer per year over the next three years – we can’t keep up.”
The source said of six senior constables who could supervise or work with the inexperienced constables, four were part-time. There were also eight unfilled vacancies.
Mr McKenzie said although there had been no incidents caused by placing two inexperienced officers together in the field, it was a concern.
A spokesperson for Epping police said adequate measures were in place to supervise, support and mentor probationary constables at the station.
