By Matthew Sims
Nationals Eastern Victoria MP Melina Bath has hit out at the State Government for neglecting community safety, as watchhouses shut down across the East.
Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday 31 July, in a question for Police Minister Anthony Carbines, she said Victoria Police’s resourcing has continued to fall short.
“We know that crime in Eastern Victoria Region is rising to record levels, and our valued VicPol staff are increasingly under-resourced,“ she said.
“La Trobe has the second-highest criminal incident rate and the second-highest recorded offence rate in Victoria.
“Given the lack of resources and the closing of our watch houses … what further watch houses are being closed in Eastern Victoria Region, for how long and in what spaces, and what are you specifically doing to stop criminals being released back onto our streets?”
Victoria Police’s most recent annual report showed there were 317 less full-time equivalent police in Victoria in the 2022-2023 year compared to the year prior, representing a 1.97 per cent drop.
Employee figures for March 2024 showed there had been a loss of 12.79 full-time equivalent members when compared to March 2023, with Southern Metro Region’s Division 2 Crime Investigation Unit seeing a drop of 8.27 FTE employees, the Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigations Team losing 8.47 FTE employees and a total loss of 36.54 FTE employees across the division.
Ms Bath said with watchhouses closing across the South East, including in Moe, community members deserved to know why Victoria Police was continuing to fall.
“The community deserves to know what other watchhouses are closed and why specialist crime investigation teams are being cut,“ she said.
“Watchhouses temporarily hold alleged criminals for investigation, processing, and mental health assessments.
“Crime in eastern Victoria is rising – we need our officers on the streets and not tied up transporting alleged criminals for processing when it can be done locally.”
Ms Bath said Victorians were currently bearing the brunt of the under-resourced police force, as crime figures continue to rise.
“Police are clearly under-resourced in eastern Victoria, and our hardworking officers are struggling to get criminal off the streets,” she said.
A Victoria Police spokesperson said the division had the full-time equivalent of 858.24 police officers at 30 June, which was a jump compared to the 839.35 full-time equivalent positions at 30 June 2023.
“There are more police in the division covering Cardinia, Casey and Greater Dandenong than there were a year ago,“ the spokesperson said.
“This means the community should be assured we have sufficient resources to detect and deter crime.
“Any suggestion police are being pulled from specialist units in our area is completely untrue.“
Across the state, there were currently a total of about 16,190 officers serving the community, representing an increase of about 199 since the same time last year.
Federal La Trobe MP Jason Wood said beyond the police force, the Federal and State governments needed to take immediate action to tackle the increase in youth crime.
“The lenient bail laws in Victoria have contributed to a rise in youth crime, as young offenders are often released back into the community without sufficient deterrents,“ he said.
“The current bail system fails to hold young offenders accountable for their actions, which can hinder their rehabilitation and encourage further criminal behaviour.
“Law enforcement is burdened with re-arresting the same individuals, diverting resources from other important community safety initiatives.“
