Melton police’s Inspector Kathryn Rudkins says people can contact her or she will call a public meeting in response to residents’ calls to have the Caroline Springs police station manned 24 hours a day.
Inspector Rudkins said, “I’d rather the people of Caroline Springs understand it from the police perspective and have the opportunity to ask questions and be listened to.”
Her comments follow concerns by residents of Caroline Springs and surrounds, about the operational hours of the station.
Taylors Hill resident Jeb Erbas this month launched an online petition calling for a 24/7 station, which has attracted more than 1000 signatures.
Mr Erbas called for action from local government and police to address the community’s safety concerns.
“Hand on my heart, I rarely see a police car patrolling the area after hours,” Mr Erbas said.
He said residents were worried for their safety, especially with a high number of reported break-ins and home burglaries.
He said Caroline Springs had become a “hot spot” for crime and that residents expressed their concerns on social media pages but felt they weren’t being heard by authorities.
“We need the police station operating 24/seven,” he said.
Inspector Rudkins said although the station was not manned full-time, police were on the roads around Caroline Springs conducting patrols around the clock.
She said designated tasking units also worked in a number of specialised fields, including theft, and opening the police station 24 hours would be at the expense of patrols.
“I’d rather [police] be out on the road with the ability to respond to calls from the public,” she said.
“We don’t want our residents feeling scared. If they’re scared or worried and they need police attendance they just need to call triple-0 and a unit will attend.”
Inspector Rudkins invited residents to contact her via email – kathryn.rudkins@police.vic.gov.au – or by phone on 9747 7919.
The online petition is at chn.ge/1ad36tm.
