Wednesday, 29 November 2023

Police resources

Ann-Marie HERMANS (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (17:58): (635) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Police, and I ask the minister to not ignore the people of Frankston’s concerns, which are backed up by the Police Association Victoria secretary Wayne Gatt regarding issues about safety that have been raised in a recent report commissioned by Frankston City Council and conducted by research company Metropolis. The action I seek is for the minister to reinstate the 24-hour police reception to all police stations that service the south-eastern suburbs and neighbouring areas.

The issues relate to how people in Frankston feel about their general safety, and this is of particular interest now, since last week police announced that they have been forced to cut down on opening hours in the evenings and quieter periods for 43 police stations, with seven in my electorate of the South-Eastern Metropolitan Region. Suburbs include the bayside Chelsea area, Cheltenham, Mordialloc, Endeavour Hills, Springvale and Carrum Downs, and while police have said that receptions will be manned, night-time closures of these stations are a real concern, with the nearest operating police stations with night-time hours up to 5 to 10 kilometres away. The Metropolis survey of over 801 residents found that 19 per cent of respondents felt unsafe in Frankston at night. This 19 ‍per cent is about 8 per cent higher than the metropolitan average. The report further stated that 11 ‍per cent of Frankston respondents to this survey nominated safety, policing and crime issues as their main concerns, which is double the metropolitan Melbourne average of only 5 per cent.

The report also found that people in Frankston felt 8 per cent less safe at night, 6 per cent less safe during the day and 5 per cent less safe in and around the local shopping area and travelling on or waiting for public transport than in the average areas of Melbourne’s metropolitan regions. The respondents aired their concerns about crime in Frankston, with 13 per cent feeling unsafe due to a perceived lack of adequate policing. The 13 per cent statistic and concerns were about safety at night and also around lighting issues, but the main issue for the 13 per cent was that there was not adequate policing. I just want to reiterate the point – a perceived lack of adequate policing. This perception was part of a report conducted in May this year, and I fear that this percentage would be higher now with the reduction of police station hours. Perception is vital. Closing police stations at night is only going to heighten people’s very real fears, and we now know that there are 319 fewer serving police officers in 2023 than there were in 2022. There are currently 800 general Victoria Police vacancies, and that is since COVID-19. Many of these safety concerns are around issues of drugs and alcohol.