Campaign launched to re-open station

By Callan Date
A CAMPAIGN has been launched to reopen Endeavour Hills Police Station to the public 24 hours a day.
The move follows public outrage after the station was closed to people who needed assistance.
The Heatherton Road building was billed as a 24-hour station when it first opened in March 2005.
However, less than two years later it was closed between the hours of 11pm and 7am every night.
Although the station has been closed overnight since February, the Victorian Police website still lists the Endeavour Hills station as being open 24 hours each day.
Now anyone looking for police assistance during the shut down period is directed to an intercom system that connects them to Narre Warren Police Station.
Police officers can still access the station 24 hours a day.
Casey resident and member for South-Eastern Metropolitan MP Gordon Rich-Phillips is leading the call for the station to be reopened during the night.
He said residents of Endeavour Hills, Doveton, Eumemmerring, Hallam and Lysterfield South deserved a 24-hour police station.
“Narre Warren is already one of the busiest stations in Victoria and I have been advised they have not been given extra manpower to help cover the Endeavour Hills region,” Mr Rich-Phillips said.
“In March 2005, the then Police Minister Tim Holding was full of reasons why Endeavour Hills deserved its own police station.
“Now just over two years, and one election later, it would appear that during the times that really matter, Endeavour Hills does not deserve its own station,” he said.
Casey Inspector Paul Ross has defended the decision to shut the police station overnight.
“Over the past year very few members of the public have visited or phoned Endeavour Hills Police Station between the hours of 11pm and 7am,” Inspector Ross said.
“As such, from Sunday, 18 February no members have been rostered on for duty inside the police station between these times.”
Inspector Ross confirmed that all phone calls made to Endeavour Hills Police Station are diverted to the Narre Warren Police Station during the shut down period.
“This new initiative was evaluated after three months and as suspected these changes have not had any impact on the high level of police service the Endeavour Hills community currently receives,” he said.
He said patrol units continue to operate out of the station around the clock.
“These changes have further enhanced our overall service delivery to the community by allowing us to allocate resources more effectively and deploy additional units during peak periods.”
However, Mr Rich-Phillips is not convinced.
“Mr Bracks insists that his Government has met all its pre-election commitments when it comes to police staffing, so maybe either he or the Police Minister can tell us why they have chosen to close a station in the state’s fastest growing municipality for eight hours every night,” he said.