By LAURA WAKELY
NEW figures reveal there is just one police officer for every 901 residents across Brimbank and Melton.
Police numbers released under Freedom of Information show Brimbank police had 194 full-time equivalent staff by the end of February 2012 and Melton had 107.
Brimbank has the fifth-highest amount of police per resident in Victoria and the highest in the West.
Growth area Wyndham has the lowest number, with 1335 residents for every police member, followed by fellow growth area Melton, with 1021 residents per police officer.
Since January 2011, the West has received 113 new members and could receive more under the Government’s election commitment to recruit an extra 1700 police by November 2014.
But Shadow Police Minister James Merlino said the Government was failing to keep pace with population growth since being elected in 2010.
“Mr Ryan promised to get tough on crime and boost police numbers but the figures clearly show a government in disarray when it comes to resourcing and tackling crime,” Mr Merlino said.
He said the pinch was particularly being felt in growth corridors like Wyndham, Melton and Casey.
“These figures confirm what the public suspect. The Baillieu Government’s tough on crime law and order policy is nothing more than spin from this ‘no action’ government.”
But a spokesperson for Police Minister Peter Ryan said managing police and population ratios was a matter for Victoria Police.
“That said, the Minister ensures law and order remains a key priority of the Victorian Coalition Government as it works closely with Victoria Police to reverse more than a decade of underfunding by the Labor Party,” the spokesperson said.
She said Victoria Police were on schedule to recruit the additional police, 850 allocated across the state and was also on track to recruit 940 protective service officers (PSOs), two of which will man each metropolitan station.
She said the Government provided $21.7 million in the budget to upgrade 66 rail stations and $56.4 million to upgrade police stations to accommodate the new police.
Star contacted Superintendent Rick Nugent but he was unavailable for comment.
