The Andrews Labor Government is delivering the police, protection and prevention our state needs, with new laws, more specialist police, equipment and technology to crack down on serious and organised crime.

Member for Werribee Tim Pallas welcomed the launch of the Community Safety Statement 2018/19 and the announcement that a further $115 million package will be funded in the upcoming Victorian Budget 2018/19.

The Government’s first Community Safety Statement outlined our plan for keeping Victoria safe, with a $2 billion investment that provided the people, resources and laws and support Victoria Police needed.

The new Statement recommits the Government and Victoria Police to a shared community safety vision, which includes:

• $24 million cybercrime package, with new specialist police and cyber capabilities to fight technology enabled offending by serious and organised criminals
• $25 million crime prevention package, with $5 million to support Neighbourhood Watch, Crime Stoppers and the National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council.
• New mobile police stations to tackle crime when and where it happens
• Specialist training and access to longarm firearms for select police in Melbourne and regional Victoria
• New police powers and new reforms to better respond to and prevent terrorism and organised crime
• Longer prison sentences and harsher penalties for drug dealers, tougher consequences for young offenders, and the tightening of Community Corrections Orders for serious criminals

The latest statement continues the Labor Government’s record police investment, which is delivering 3135 new police by 2022, the largest police station upgrade program in a generation, as well as specialist equipment and technology for police.

Communities are seeing the results of this investment, with 12 new police officers allocated to Wyndham Police Service Area in 2018 to detect and disrupt crime. This comes on top of the additional 27 officers allocated in 2017.

The new police officers include an extra 9 police allocated to police stations in the Westgate Division as specialist family violence roles, which frees up other police to deal with other crime. It also includes parental leave backfill positions.

400 Police Custody Officers have been delivered and as of January 2018.

The government’s record investment in Victoria Police is having an impact with the latest crime statistics showing the number of offences in the Wyndham Local Government Area dropping by 11% per cent in 2017.

Since July 2015, the government has also provided over $1 million in funding under the Community Crime Prevention program projects to improve community safety in Wyndham.

People can visit communitysafety.vic.gov.au to find out more about the work underway to support a safer Victoria.

Quotes attributable to Member for Werribee Tim Pallas

“Our police officers deserve the best equipment, facilities and resources to support the crucial work they do in fighting crime and protecting the community. We are giving them that.”

“The Werribee electorate and Wyndham are already seeing the benefits of the government’s record funding for Victoria Police, with the number of offences in Wyndham dropping 11% per cent in 2017.”

“The new CSS 2018/19 initiatives on top of the additional police resources for Wyndham, new laws and police powers will continue to have an impact on crime in Wyndham and across the state.”