Assistant Commissioner Steve Fontana
By XAVIER SMERDON
WYNDHAM Mayor John Menegazzo is happy to see nine new police
coming to the municipality, but
admits much more are needed to
keep up with the growth in population numbers.
Victoria Police announced last week that Wyndham would receive nine out of a state-wide allocation of 125 new general duty officers.
Wyndham was third on the list of new police numbers with Brimbank, 13 and Frankston, 11, rounding out the top three.
Cr Menegazzo said it was good to see Wyndham so high up on the list.
“Obviously we’re quite pleased we got an extra nine. It’s nine we didn’t have before, but as I’ve mentioned, this is a continuing advocacy campaign,” Cr Menegazzo said.
“At least they are starting to take a little bit of notice and at least we were amongst the top three in terms of the numbers that were allocated this time instead of being down the bottom.
“So if we can maintain that and be among the top of the ranking every time there’s a new release of staff then gradually, hopefully, we’ll start to catch up, although we’re still well short of where we should be.”
Cr Menegazzo said that Wyndham was expected to reach a population of around 170,000 by the middle of next year, making the issue of police numbers even more pressing.
“The new population forecasts will be coming out soon but I think the more we grow the more that continues to push us out even further in terms of the ratio of police to population,” he said.
Cr Menegazzo said the new recruits will most likely be placed at the Wyndham North Police Station.
