State’s mixed messages on Port cop house 24-hour police doubt

Kim Waters
Portarlington could lose its 24-hour police presence amid conflicting messages from State Government about the future of the town’s officer’s residence
An email from the Police Minister’s spokesperson to the town’s Port Report newsletter said the residence was now “surplus” to force requirements because command had appointed a new officer “without a requirement for the house”.
But a Victoria Police spokesperson later told the Independent the house was still subject to a statewide review of force residences to determine whether they were surplus.
A police spokesperson said in June that the house was “not on any list” for closure despite an earlier report in the Independent that the Portarlington residence was one of 45 around the state under review.
The senior sergeant in residence at Portarlington is set to leave later this month.
The spokesperson told the Independent this week that the house had “not been sold or closed”.
Policing standards would remain unchanged regardless of whether an officer was in residence at Portarlington, the spokesperson said.
“Any decision to advertise positions without a requirement to live in a residence, such as at Portarlington, will have no impact on operational policing or community service.”
Portarlington Community Association president Monica Hayes said a full-time police presence in the town was essential.
Security was becoming an increasing concern for the community amid rises in theft and vandalism, Ms Hayes said.
“It’s so important to have a local policeman living in the community, walking his dog and wandering the streets.
“It means he or she is a community friend and it’s a valuable way for them to get to know local vehicles, movements and patterns. Its all part of local community policing. I think that the whole of the peninsula battles to have a police presence, particularly at busy times.”