Police get new regions

VICTORIA Police has announced that as of December this year it will have four police areas, not five.
In announcing changes to the regional boundaries, Chief Commissioner Simon Overland said the decision would ensure that Victoria Police was more closely aligned with other government agencies and in turn aid emergency management.
The new boundaries were determined after considering issues such as crime rates, current and projected population growth and the number of Victoria Police employees in each location.
Mr Overland said the current boundaries had been in place for 10 years and the changes would enable Victoria Police to closely focus on the different needs of each police area.
The four new areas will be divided into western, northern, eastern and southern Victoria and will be overseen by an assistant commissioner.
Mr Overland said the new boundaries meant that areas would predominantly cover either country and outer suburban areas or metropolitan ones.
“Often the needs and issues experienced by country and outer suburban areas are very different to those taking place in the city and its fringes,” he said.
“At present we have five regions and some of them cover very diverse geographical areas which have very different policing needs.
“We hope the new boundaries will enable police to focus on issues and crime trends consistently occurring across their areas and effectively utilise resources to target problems of most concern.”
Mr Overland said it was important to note that there would be no job losses as a result of these changes and no police stations would be closed.
In addition to changes to regional boundaries, there may be some relatively minor changes to a limited number of Police Service Area boundaries and there would be some changes to some divisions.
“The changes should not impact on day-to-day policing, but will have relevance in relation to our management structure. In terms of emergency management, it will assist managers in better co-ordinating their local arrangements as we will be better aligned with other agencies,” he said.
A Regional Boundary Team has been established to ensure that the structural and management changes are made as smoothly as possible and that they are in place by December 1.
Assistant Commissioner Tim Cartwright, project leader of the Regional Boundaries Project (RBP) said that four areas were the most equitable and suitable structure for the organisation.
“The new boundaries should complement the existing State Government borders, ensuring more effective future emergency management ahead of the 2009-10 bushfire season.”