By Luke Voogt
“Not being able to contact police” has emerged as the number one concern for Waurn Ponds residents following recent consultation.
The complaint was the most common at a recent ‘Coffee with a Cop’ event on Wednesday, according to Acting Sergeant Mark Thomas.
“We had a lot of acknowledgement of the frustrations we face,” he said.
“They don’t see us out and about as they might like – which is why we were out there engaging with the public.”
Complaints at public forums and pressure from local State Opposition MPs led the station to reinstate its front desk hours from eight to 16 in July.
Earlier this year South Barwon MP Andrew Katos accused the government of leaving the police station understaffed.
But no-one raised a lack of staff or opening hours as a concern on Wednesday morning, Sgt Thomas said.
“No-one raised that directly with me.”
Sgt Thomas described the public reaction to Coffee with a Cop at Waurn Ponds Shopping Centre on Wednesday morning as overwhelmingly positive.
“I reckon we would have spoken to well over 50 or 60 people,” he said.
“They were really keen to engage and have a free coffee with the members who were available.”
Officers gave out more than 30 coffees as they spoke to “people of all ages from all walks of life,” Sgt Thomas said.
“They were very pleased to see local police out mixing with members of the public.”
Sgt Thomas said Waurn Ponds police hoped “to get out and say g’day to” to their local community more often.
“It was really nice to be able to smile at people and have them smile back at you,” he said.
“We are planning on doing more of these Coffee with a Cop activities in February next year.”
Geelong police will hold community forums at Geelong West Town Hall 7pm on Monday, and Lara Hall (6pm) and Centenary Hall, Norlane, (8pm) on Tuesday.
