By Wyndham Local Area Commander – Inspector Brooke Walker
This month I wanted to provide some advice around how you can get in touch with your local police. Over the years we have undergone significant transformations in regards to our service we provide to the community, and there are now several ways you can report a crime or speak to a police officer that you may not be aware of.
The Police Assistance Line and Online Reporting Service is available for the community at all times.
You can call the Police Assistance Line on 131 444 or visit our Online Reporting Service with a general inquiry or to report non-urgent crime and events at anytime.
Examples of non-urgent crimes and events include
Burglary at a home or commercial property where no one was home at the time,
theft (including theft of a motor vehicle),
property damage and lost property.
Online reporting is available at www.police.vic.gov.au/palolr.
The Victoria Police website, where you can report non-urgent crime online, also has language and accessibility tools, which supports vision impaired and culturally and linguistically diverse users to engage online. The tool allows anyone to convert text to speech, look up word definitions and change font size. It can also translate text on the website in to 100 different languages. We think this is really important for our vibrant, multicultural community in Wyndham and I’d encourage everyone to take a look around online and familiarise yourself with the website.
If you need a document signed by a Justice of the Peace, which could include a statutory declaration, certifying a document, witnessing an affidavit or certifying an identity, this can be done at local libraries, community centres, pharmacists in addition to local police stations. It’s recommended to call ahead to ensure there is a Justice of the Peace available on that day.
If you are in need of police attendance urgently, for instance family violence, assault or a crime taking place at the time of reporting then you must call triple-0 (000).
If you have information about a crime that has occurred, perhaps you saw suspicious activity or have information that could help police solve a crime, this can be reported to Crime Stoppers anonymously, by calling 1800 333 000 or by visiting www.crimestoppersvic.com.au and submitting a report online.
