The latest Victoria Police annual report, released yesterday amongst more than 200 other reports tabled in the Victorian Parliament, confirm police numbers continue to fall under Labor.
The report shows there are 319 fewer serving officers now when compared to 12 months ago, despite claims from the Labor Government they had added additional staff.
This comes as there remains over 800 general Victoria Police vacancies plus many more officers and staff on long-term sick leave. Despite the shortfall, spending on recruitment advertising is down 20 per cent compared to the year prior.
Further concerning figures revealed show:
- Community satisfaction with police and community confidence in police integrity performance markers both down 3 per cent on the year prior
- Victoria Police missed the roadside alcohol testing target by a whopping 500,000 tests
- The average time to process Freedom of Information requests has doubled in the last 12 months, despite stable volumes
Shadow Minister for Police, Brad Battin, said: “This data proves yet again that Victorians continue to be punished for Labor’s incompetence
“Victoria Police are suffering from cuts to staff and a lack of investment in quality recruiting methods. This means there are fewer Police on the beat, 24 hour stations are closed when they’re supposed to be open, and crimes are going unsolved.
“Victorians ultimately pay the price and that just isn’t good enough from a Government that is supposed to care.”
