Questions raised over police station

By Tania Martin
A SENIOR Emerald police officer says a 24-hour station is unnecessary, despite residents’ fears of escalating violence and vandalism.
Acting Sergeant Stuart Halligan says there is not enough work in the hills to warrant a 24-hour station.
The comments come after former police officer and now La Trobe MP Jason Wood last week called on the State Government to take action.
“I call on the State Government to fund a 24-hour police station in Emerald to ease this problem,” he said.
“We need more police presence in the area to stop the drain on current resources in Pakenham.”
But Sgt Halligan said a couple of isolated incidences were not enough to warrant a 24-hour station.
When there is a spike in crime such as has occurred in Emerald and Cockatoo, more police units from the region are channelled into that area, he said.
“The result of putting extra services in those areas has led to the successful identification of suspects and offenders are then dealt with appropriately,” Sgt Halligan said.
“We are combating the problem successfully and making arrests with the help of the public.”
Sgt Halligan said police would continue to channel extra units were need to combat crime.
However, Mr Wood said the residents told a different story.
“It is more likely to be deterrent to youths to have patrols on the ground in Emerald rather than calling units from Pakenham,” he said.
Mr Wood said hills people were fed-up with the lack of police resources in the area.
In the past month, youths have run riot through the hills leaving a trail of destruction.
The recent spate began on Friday 1 February when a mob of more than 100 youths went on a vandalism rampage for more than two hours.
Police were forced to call in reinforcements from Pakenham to quell the vandalism in which the Emerald station was sprayed with graffiti, bottles were smashed, windows broken and rubbish was thrown across the streets.
An Emerald shopkeeper, who wished to remain nameless, said an increased police presence was desperately needed to combat the ongoing violence and vandalism.
He said there needed to be more police on the ground patrolling the Emerald and Cockatoo areas to stop the violence.
The Mail contacted the State Government but was unable to get a response before going to print.