Libs pledge security boost
PSOs can safeguard Moorabool St bus interchange
PROTECTIVE Services Officers would patrol Moorabool St bus interchange under a State Opposition plan to stamp out anti-social behaviour in the city.
Opposition police spokesman Ed O’Donohue visited the site recently to recommit to a 2015 Liberals plan to have PSOs patrol the bus interchange and the surrounding area — a magnet for the town’s anti-social behaviour.
“PSOs will be on duty at the bus interchange seven days a week, 3pm to last bus,” Mr O’Donohue said. “We have a clear plan to make Geelong’s CBD safe.
“We’ve had a lot of feed- back from the community about the anti-social behaviour that continues here.
“A lot of shopkeepers talk about it, a lot of retailers talk about it.
“The Coalition policy to put PSOs at railway stations has been a great success, and that principle can apply to major bus interchanges like here.”
State Liberal candidate for Geelong Freya Fidge said it was important for people to feel safe in all areas of the city.
“The feedback we’re getting from the retailers is around this interchange area and antisocial behaviour — it becomes intimidating for people wanting to visit the shopping centres,” Ms Fidge said.
The PSO plan would complement the Opposition’s plan to establish a police shopfront in Geelong’s Westfield Shopping Centre, with officers patrolling surrounding areas, including the Market Square shops, bus interchange and Little Malop St mall.
If elected, a Coalition government has pledged to spend $7.2 million to establish police shopfronts in a dozen of the state’s biggest and busiest shopping centres.
The Opposition’s PSO announcement comes a month after Police Minister Lisa Neville declined to rule out bringing in “strike teams” of PSOs to patrol trouble hot spots.
“The Labor Government announced the recruitment of an additional 100 PSOs to establish mobile strike teams to work across the public transport network including bus stops and interchanges as a part of the 2017 Community Safety Statement,” she said.
Geelong Mayor Bruce Harwood confirmed he would support efforts to install a greater police presence in the city.
“If local police were able to provide greater service to the CBD area, which has a history of anti-social behaviour, at times leading to criminal actions, we’d be very supportive of that increased police presence,” he said last month.