Member for Morwell Russell Northe has called on the Andrews Labor Government to allocate more police resources to the Latrobe region as the crime rate soars.
The Victorian Crime Statistics Agency’s latest crime statistics reveal crime in Latrobe City has increased by a staggering 18.4 per cent since December 2014.
Mr Northe said Latrobe now has the second highest offence rate in Victoria with 19,167 offences per 100,000 estimated resident population.
“Our local police do an amazing job in serving and protecting our community but the Andrews Labor Government must provide them with the resources to do their job,” Mr Northe said.
“Prior to the 2010 election, Victoria had the least amount of police per capita of any Australian state or territory and many Latrobe Valley police stations were crying out for additional police officers.
“The former Coalition government allocated additional police resources at Traralgon, Morwell, Moe and Churchill police stations.”
Mr Northe said there were fewer sworn police officers in Victoria than when the Andrews Labor Government was elected.
“The Liberal-National Coalition delivered an additional 1700 police and 940 PSO’s across Victoria to fight more crime, more effectively,” Mr Northe said.
“We are now seeing the impact of these reduced police numbers in rural Victoria under a Labor Government.
“Labor is failing country Victoria by failing to increase overall police numbers particularly where crime is increasing and the population is growing.”
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