Port on patrol: Town’s refurbished police station reopens

THE outside of the Portarlington police station may look the same but the inside has some of Victoria’s best IT infrastructure following a $350,000 upgrade.

Minister for Police and Bellarine MP Lisa Neville officially opened the refurbished station on Newcombe Street on Friday last week.

The station has been upgraded to include state-of-the-art IT equipment that will allow for operations and investigations to be conducted from the Portarlington location by other units.

“I’m told it’s got the best technology in the state at the moment, as part of the modernisation process we’re doing of all our police stations,” Ms Neville said.

“It’s leading the way in terms of technology, which is fantastic.”

The refurbishment includes docking stations for body worn cameras to be stored securely, extra personal locker rooms, a new equipment and interview room, more storage space and a new steel carport. The station has also been renovated to include a new and separate custody entry point.

Inspector Peter Nichols said the first van left from the refurbished station on December 21 to cover policing requirements over the busy summer period.

He said the Portarlington police station represented the whole community, including the surrounding towns of Curlewis, Drysdale, Clifton Springs, Portarlington, St Leonards and Indented Head.

He acknowledged other organisations in the area, including: Neighbourhood Watch, SpringDale Neighbourhood Centre, Bellarine Safer Community, Drysdale/Clifton Springs Community Association,
St Leonards Progression Association, Portarlington CFA, and the Portarlington Business Development Association.

“The responsibility now is about us to make sure we deliver the appropriate police service,” he said.

“In the Western Region, we talk about the ‘community web of protection’ and Chief Commissioner Shane Patton has talked about getting back to basics.

“For me, that means making sure that our members that are here are embedded into that community and providing that right response, and that our actions are accountable.”

Since 2016, the Andrews Government says it has provided an additional 149 police officers to the Geelong Division, including an extra 35 to the Bellarine response zone.

Ms Neville said of the 58 new police positions allocated to the Geelong Division in 2020, eight of those were for Portarlington.

She said there had been a recent change to police deployment in the northern Bellarine over summer, with extra patrols and more police.

“What we saw was declining crime and improved road safety outcomes, so what it shows you is with having enough police in a police station to do those mobile patrols, and out on the streets, out in the communities, we can make a difference in dropping crime.”