The south-west is expected to get more police officers with the state government announcing it will boost numbers by 2729 statewide over four years.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The government said it was the largest single investment in the history of the force, which will grow by 20 per cent.
A spokesman for the government said south-west Victoria would “definitely” share in the extra police resources announced on Sunday, but exact numbers were yet to be determined.
The south-west is also still waiting to hear if they will share in the extra 406 officers that were funded in the 2016-17 budget and were now being recruited. An announcement is expected in the next month.
Among the extra officers announced on Sunday will be 415 frontline and specialist family violence police.
The government spokesman said that because regional Victoria had a higher prevalence of family violence compared to metropolitan Melbourne, the south-west would probably also get some of those officers.
More than $2 billion will be spent on the extra officers, plus funding will be spent on new police stations and giving police the latest crime-fighting capabilities.
Four stations in Melbourne and six in regional Victoria will be replaced, but none in south-west Victoria.
Premier Daniel Andrews said every Victorian deserved to feel safe. “We are delivering in full the officers that Victoria Police tell us they need and ending the boom and bust of police recruitment,” he said.