Labor pledges more police and new academy in Melbourne's west

Labor has promised to recruit an extra 1,500 police officers and build a new Victoria Police training facility in the Wyndham area, in Melbourne's south-west, if it wins the November state election. Premier Ben Carroll says applications to become a police officer are at a five-year high. But he says there is a bottleneck with training because there is currently only one permanent police academy in the state. A re-elected Labor government would recruit an extra 1,500 police officers and build a new training facility in Melbourne's south-west. The election pledge aimed to increase Victoria's police workforce to just over 17,000, which has been the focus of a campaign by Victoria's police union. Premier Ben Carroll said applications to become a police officer were at a five-year high, but there was a bottleneck at the state's only permanent police academy in Glen Waverley, in Melbourne's south-east. But Mr Carroll said that if Labor won the November state election, it would build another training facility in the Wyndham area. "My priority is community safety and 1,500 more police is the new direction I'm delivering as premier," Mr Carroll said. He said positioning a new academy in Melbourne's west would make it easier for recruits to train closer to their homes, and upgraded facilities and accommodation at Glen Waverley would increase the number of officers that could be trained at one time. Mr Carroll said there were also plans to increase the number of squads being trained at the Mildura and Gippsland facilities when they open. The premier has announced plans to fast-track applications from defence force veterans and Protective Services Officers. "Victoria has the largest police force in the country, but we still need more police," Police Minister Paul Edbrooke said. The Police Association of Victoria has welcomed Labor's pledge. "We've long said that we need more police and we need them delivered to the front line more efficiently," union secretary Wayne Gatt said. He said locating Melbourne's second police academy in the west would help ease the pressure on the Glen Waverley facility. "The sooner Victoria Police is in lockstep with the broader workforce, by employing prospective recruits within weeks and not months, and training them closer to where they live and work, the more achievable that aspiration becomes," he said.