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🇦🇺 Australia /Crime & Justice

Victoria Police to close public counters at four inner-city stations

From ABC Australia · () English

Summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

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  • Victoria Police will close public counter services at stations in Collingwood, Fitzroy, Southbank and North Melbourne from October 4, while keeping the stations as operational bases.
  • The force says the changes will place more officers on frontline patrols and support community safety operations in inner Melbourne.
  • The closures have intensified a dispute between the Labor government and Coalition opposition over police funding ahead of the November 28 state election.

Four inner-Melbourne police stations will stop serving the public at their counters from October 4, although officers will continue working from all four sites around the clock.

Victoria Police said counter services at Collingwood, Fitzroy, Southbank and North Melbourne would close as part of operational changes designed to increase the number of officers available for frontline duties. Assistant Commissioner Jo Stafford said the move would make more police visible in the community through patrols, crime prevention and incident response.

The police stations themselves will remain open as operational bases, with officers continuing to work and deploy from these locations around the clock.

· Jo StaffordVictoria Police’s assistant commissioner said the buildings would remain active despite the counter closures.

The additional officers will support community safety operations including Operation Harmony in Melbourne’s central business district and Operation Assurance along Victoria Street. Stafford also said the changes would strengthen the force’s ability to hold offenders accountable and manage prisoners.

The changes will enable more police members to be visible in the community, conducting patrols, preventing crime, and responding to incidents when and where they are needed most.

· Jo StaffordShe described the operational rationale for shifting staff away from public counter services.

Police said the four stations are close to other facilities that will continue providing public counter services around the clock, including Melbourne West, Melbourne East and Richmond. The decision comes as police numbers and resourcing remain contentious issues before Victoria’s November 28 state election.

Premier Ben Carroll said in August that Victorians wanted to see someone at the counter when they entered their local station. He said hundreds of former police officers recruited as reservists would help address shortages and be assigned to counters selected by Victoria Police intelligence.

Victorians have told us they still want to see someone at the counter when they walk into their local station, and I’m listening.

· Ben CarrollThe Victorian premier defended plans to use reservists to staff selected police counters.

Opposition police spokesman Brad Battin called the closures a broken promise. He said Carroll had promised longer opening hours at more police stations, but that Labor was now permanently closing four inner-city counters to the public.

Ben Carroll looked Victorians in the eye and promised more police stations would be open for longer.

· Brad BattinThe opposition police spokesman accused the government of breaking its commitment to police access.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Australia. Summarized and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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