By Michael Sinclair
AFTER more than three years of planning, the long-awaited Caroline Springs police station is open.
And local residents have been urged to “come in and say hello” as the complex begins operations throughout the region this week.
“I think the community are going to embrace us – there have been plenty of people come and say what a difference we’re going to make to the area,” Senior Sergeant Warren Greene told Star last week.
“We’re very excited to be open – I’ve got police members walking through the front door with smiles on their faces, looking forward to get started.”
The station will initially have 25 police on strength including dedicated youth resource officers, and will be open from 7am-7pm each day for over-the-counter enquiries.
Police patrols will continue until about 11pm each day and will continue throughout the night on weekends.
The state-of-the-art complex has been on the drawing board for more than three years and took after six months to build.
The building has the capacity to expand and can accommodate 75 police officers. It has a public watchhouse, holding cells, interview rooms and administration offices.
It also house a special operations room, youth resource offices, consulting rooms and a gym.
Police have been recruited from staions across the western suburbs to staff trhe new station.
“It really is a state-of-the-art facility and has been designed to allow for increases in staffing as the Melton East corridor increases in population and demand,” Sen Sgt Greene said.
“The station will initially provide a counter service for most morning and afternoon shifts and will provide patrol services to cover peak demand times including night shifts.”
The new station will service the areas of Hillside, Taylors Hill, Burnside, Caroline Springs, Ravenhall, Rockbank and Diggers Rest.
The Caroline Springs Police Station is located at 221 Caroline Springs Boulevard and the telephone number is 9361 4700.
