There are more frontline police now than ever before, with more to hit the roads in coming months, following continued investment by the Andrews Labor Government into Victoria Police.
New employee data released this week by Victoria Police shows there are 1,544 more full time equivalent (FTE) police officers today than there were when the Labor Government came to office.
Victoria now has 14,695 FTE police officers. This represents a 11.7 per cent increase in police numbers over the past three-and-a-half years, with more police to continue to roll out over the next four years.
There are also 286 more Protective Service Officers out in the community working across the public transport network and 394 Police Custody Officers working in stations freeing up police officers for frontline work.
The Labor Government has made a record investment into Victoria Police funding 3,135 new frontline police officers, which is providing for dedicated family violence and other specialist officers, and also general duties officers, as well as new technology, equipment, capability and intelligence systems.
The Police Academy is full and will remain full years to come with thousands more police due to be recruited, trained and deployed over the next four years.
Victoria Police is deploying new police when and where they are needed most, using a new and sophisticated staffing allocation model (SAM). The SAM has been developed by Victoria Police in consultation with the Police Association of Victoria, and endorsed by the Labor Government.
Using the SAM, the first wave of 300 new frontline officers was fully rolled out by early 2018, with the deployment of the second wave of 825 frontline and specialist officers currently in progress. The third wave of deployments will be announced in early 2019.
The new resources and the strong focus on frontline community policing has helped police to drive down crime across Victoria, with the crime rate decreasing 7 per cent in the year to 30 June 2018, according to the latest data from the independent Crime Statistics Agency.
There is more work to be done, and the Labor Government continues to work closely with Victoria Police to ensure they have the resources, powers and technology they need to keep Victorians safe and prevent harm.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Police Lisa Neville
“Our record investment is delivering more police officers out on the streets – and helping police to relentlessly focus on driving down the crime rate across our state.”
“The community is seeing more police in our communities and in specialist roles, to proactively target crime where it’s most needed.”
“There are thousands more police officers on their way – and they will have the equipment, the facilities and the laws they need to fight crime and keep Victorians safe.”
Reviewed 19 August 2020