WHEN the Werribee police station opened in 1988, it was a modern and well-equipped regional station.
But 18 years later, the Princes Freeway building has become “an absolute bloody disgrace”, according to Werribee Police chief Shane Dowling.
The 70 or so staff crowd into offices with stained carpets, a leaking roof, and faulty airconditioning and plumbing.
Inspector Dowling said he is angry and wants the station demolished and rebuilt.
The second-rate conditions are the main reason he fired off an internal memo to his superiors that was leaked to the press last week.
“Prisons are kept in a state of-the-art condition, why not police accommodation?” he said.
Insp Dowling he is calling for the shoddy station to be demolished and rebuilt, along with a new court house next door, to replace one on Duncans Rd.
The station’s working conditions have affected staff morale, he said.
A recent transfer of six of Werribee’s traffic management officers to work with the federal police at the Melbourne Airport in anti-terrorism activities could be attributed to the station’s sub-standard workplace, he said.
Newly elected Tarneit MP Tim Pallas said the State Government had allocated $6.5 million to build a second police station in Wyndham North by 2008, but upgrading or rebuilding the existing station would need to be considered with other competing funding requests for next year’s budget.
“I’m very keen to talk to the local police inspector and see what we can achieve in their best operational interest,” he said.
The state Liberal Party offered to spend $1.5 million to upgrade the Werribee station as part of its election promises.
Police media spokeswoman Michelle Alexander said the Werribee station was recently provided with two additional interview rooms.
