Altona MP Jill Hennessy would prefer to see more police on the beat rather than a new police station at Point Cook.
Her comments came during a visit to the town last week, when she was presented with a petition signed by more than 1200 residents calling for a greater police presence in Wyndham. A separate campaign, launched a year ago, calls for a police station at Point Cook.
“I would much prefer that we have a more visible police presence in Point Cook,” Ms Hennessy told Star Weekly.
“If we’re going to spend that money, I’d prefer it was spent on police officers rather than bricks and mortar.
“We need more police officers in the area and on the streets responding to crime, rather than sitting behind a desk.”
Ms Hennessy threw her support behind residents’ calls for more police across Wyndham, promising to table the petition in Parliament.
According to the Police Association, Wyndham has the worst police-to-population ratio in Victoria, with 49 response officers per 100,000 people. The state’s average is 102 officers for every 100,000.
“It’s incredibly distressing that so many people are not feeling safe. We’ve got to be honest about it, it is the community sentiment,” she said. “I believe we need to have more efficient and effective policing.
“Part of it is also giving the existing police the tools they need to do their job. [This will give them] the ability to get on and do what they do well, which is detecting, identifying and fighting crime.”
She said taskforce policing had shown some signs of success, and she has faith in Victoria Police to continue their fight against crime.
