A controversial Victoria Police plan to move frontline police into dedicated taskforces has received a mixed reaction.
Victoria Police is working on a Blue Paper that will outline the best way to police in the future based on population growth, societal changes and crime statistics.
In a statement released last week, Chief Commissioner Ken Lay said it was time to modernise police practices after running under the same model for 161 years. He said the state needed a “mobile” policeforce that could allocate officers according to crime trends.
“We need to build greater flexibility into the way we deploy our resources,’’ Mr Lay said.
“That’s why we are now allocating police numbers at larger geographic ‘divisional’ level so that police commanders have the freedom to move our officers from town to town as and when needed.
‘‘In addition, we also need more dedicated, specialist taskforces that can help police tackle the greatest drivers of harm.
“Challenges such as organised crime, family violence and the destructive prevalence of ice (crystal methamphetamine) in the community are not going to be solved through traditional policing alone.”
Police Minister Kim Wells fully backed Mr Lay’s comments, but opposition leader Daniel Andrews criticised the move.
“Frontline policing is about a visible police presence, deterring crime, fighting crime and keeping communities safe,” Mr Andrews said.
Keilor Labor MP Natalie Hutchins said Victoria Police was out of touch with local communities.
“I really feel it’s unacceptable for Ken Lay or the government to consider cutting police numbers on the beat, particularly in our area where we’ve seen a huge increase in our population,” she said.
The Police Association had not responded to Star Weekly’s request for comment by deadline.
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