By CASEY NEILL
NOBLE Park and Keysborough should have police ‘kiosks’ since they don’t have full stations, residents say.
Greater Dandenong Councillor Roz Blades said the issue was raised at a Noble Park Community Action Forum.
“It’s been a lot of years since there’s been a police station in Noble Park,” she said.
“There used to be a police station in Douglas Street, on the corner of Stuart Street, I think.”
Resident Gaye Guest suggested a customer service area at Paddy O’Donoghue Centre “for residents to drop in and report issues” and “more visibility of police in the area on foot, on bikes”.
“This could also apply to Parkmore Shopping Centre,” she said.
“Until police numbers increase they would never look at reinstating the police station which was on Douglas Street.”
She said police could also co-locate with PSOs at railway stations “given they are both trying to reduce crime”.
“We definitely need more visibility of police officers and once again Springvale and Dandenong have the police stations and Noble Park and Keysborough are just outpockets,” she said.
A Victoria Police spokeswoman said the Noble Park community had a range of nearby police stations, such as Dandenong and Springvale, where they could talk to police or report crime.
She said there was also a 24-hour response to the Noble Park community from general duties police and specialist response from areas such as divisional Highway Patrol units, Crime Investigation Units and Sexual Offence and Child Abuse Investigation Teams.
“Our number one priority is community safety,” she said.
“We continually monitor emerging trends and crime data to ensure we provide the best service to the community – placing our police when and where they’re needed most.”
She reminded the community that in an emergency, they should call triple-zero.
Police Minister Lisa Neville said the State Government was delivering on its promise to give police the resources they needed to fight violent crime, smash gangs, and keep the community safe.
“The Victorian Budget delivers hundreds more police, many of which will be deployed to growth areas at the discretion of the Chief Commissioner,” she said.
“We’re also upgrading and replacing police stations to give officers across the state the best facilities to get the job done.”
The 2016-’17 Budget included a $596 million Public Safety Package to deliver more than 400 new police by June 2018, with training starting in July.
There are 400 Police Custody Officers (PCOs) being rolled out to 22 police stations state-wide to help sworn police return to frontline duties.
