Police numbers in Wyndham are to receive a small boost with 10 officers to be added to Werribee police station.
The officers will be added to the station “soon” and help address Wyndham’s policing shortage.
Last year, the Police Association revealed that Wyndham was the most under-resourced police service area (PSA) in the state.
The association found that Wyndham had the lowest police-to-population ratio. The city has 88 frontline officers – 45 for every 100,000 people. Victoria’s present policing model is to have 102 police for 100,000 people.
Announcing the new officers to members last week, Police Association secretary Ron Iddles described the allocation as a “good first step”.
“It’s a move that is desperately needed and one for which we have been agitating both publicly and behind the scenes for a very long time,” he said.
But 10 officers would not be enough to fix the long history of under-resourcing in Werribee, Mr Iddles said.
“This PSA is starting from a very low base, having among the lowest frontline police-to-population ratios in the state, with the problem getting worse by the day as the population increases,” he said.
“The reality is that while an additional 10 members at Werribee will provide some relief for members at this station, it will not solve the problem as the projected population growth in this PSA is expected to keep booming into the foreseeable future.”
A community rally in Werribee last year heard that Wyndham had, proportionately, fewer frontline police on duty now than in the late 1970s and early ’80s.
Wyndham Police Association delegate Brendan O’Mahoney said the city’s police officers were regularly working double shifts and coming in while on leave to cover for sick or burnt-out colleagues.
