MP takes stab at police

By Melissa Meehan
LIBERAL MP Gordon Rich Phillips has lashed out at the State Government after finding a dangerous knife behind his office.
Mr Rich Phillips said one of his staffers, Brian Fitzpatrick, found a 25 centimetre long knife at the rear of the car park behind their offices and called the Dandenong Police Station immediately but instead of police attending the scene they told him to throw it away. “It is a bit surprising,” Mr Rich Phillips said. “It is clearly a weapon.”
He said the police officer’s direction to throw the knife out was worrying.
“It highlights how under-resourced police in this area truly are,” he said. “To not be able to respond to something like that, a serious weapon … I just can’t comprehend.”
He said Mr Fitzpatrick contacted the police station directly rather than calling triple-0 after reading on the Victoria Police website that it should only be used for emergencies.
Greater Dandenong, Casey and Cardinia police Superintendent Shane Patton agreed that police should have attended the scene as soon as possible and taken possession of the knife. “It is not normal protocol to tell the public to throw out a dangerous knife, it is a concern when a knife is located anywhere,” Supt Patton said. “The lack of response was not due to police resources.”
A spokesperson for the State Government said Mr Rich Phillips’ complaint was a political stunt demeaning the good work that Victoria Police do. “The government has provided resources to police and put more frontline police on the beat than ever before.”
He said the Liberal Party was “lazy and had nothing to offer the people of Dandenong other than a track record of slashing police numbers, refusing new community safety laws and talking down the hard work of the police force”.