By Goya Dmytryshchak
Hobsons Bay, Maribyrnong and Wyndham will receive 44 extra police, it was announced on Monday.
The area, known as Westgate Division, received the lion’s share for the regions under Victoria Police’s allocation of 396 police to be deployed across the state over the next 12 months.
Maribyrnong and Hobsons Bay will each receive 11 officers, Wyndham will get 19 and the divisional highway patrol will get three.
Dandenong Division, which includes Casey, Cardinia and Greater Dandenong, will receive 38 officers.
Knox Division, covering Yarra Ranges and Knox will receive 14 police, and Ballarat will receive 11 for the Pyreness and Moorabool areas.
Specialist commands, such as Transit and Public Safety and Intelligence and Covert Support, have been allocated 167 police.
The Professional Standards Command will have 11 new staff to investigating police who are victims or perpetrators of family violence.
Victoria Police’s Crime Command will get six police to tackle cyber crime.
Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said the final deployment of 2729 new officers funded by the state government since 2018 was a milestone for the biggest recruitment drive in Victoria Police’s history.
“Since 2018, our additional police have been deployed to the areas of greatest need using the staff allocation model, allowing us to put more police out on patrol, responding where and when needed in the community, and in dedicated areas such as family violence, transit safety, highway patrol, and sexual offences and child abuse teams,” he said.
Officers will start arriving at local stations from October.
