Southbank station cuts hours as police vacancies bite

Southbank Police Station has dramatically reduced its opening hours amid ongoing staffing shortages across Victoria Police, with the station’s commander, Snr Sgt Alex O’Toole, confirming that vacancies are affecting every station in the inner city.

“Victoria Police has vacancies … we’re not at full strength,” Snr Sgt O’Toole told Southbank News. “Across the board, Victoria Police doesn’t have all of its positions filled.”

She said the impacts were being felt across both the Melbourne East and Melbourne West local government areas.

“All of the stations in our area have vacancies,” she said.

As a direct result of the shortages, Southbank Police Station has reduced its front counter service from a 24-hour offering down to just 8.15am to 3.45pm daily.

“We’ve reduced our hours to make sure we can have adequate numbers out on the streets,” Snr Sgt O’Toole said.

She described the reduced hours as “a compromise that is unavoidable at this point in time with police numbers” but emphasised that patrol services remained unchanged. “All of the stations are still running a 24-hour patrol response,” she said.

“If you ring Southbank Police Station when we’re closed, the call is diverted to Melbourne East Police Station so you can still speak to a police officer. You just can’t attend in person.”

The reduced counter service comes as inner-Melbourne experiences rising crime. “There has been an increase in crime,” Snr Sgt O’Toole said. “Victoria Police are doing everything they can to push police numbers out onto the street.”

One of those efforts is Operation Harmony, launched two weeks ago. “It’s a visible police presence in the CBD in specific areas where crime is known to occur,” she said. “That involves foot patrols and static patrols, and it will encompass Southbank.”

Snr Sgt O’Toole said apartment thefts were frequently misunderstood, with many offences occurring in daylight hours.

Police presence in Southbank is expected to increase further over the coming months, particularly around nightlife precincts and major events.

“The divisional licensing unit will be doing a lot of proactive activities in the lead-up to Christmas parties and then the big sporting events after Christmas,” Snr Sgt O’Toole said.

“Especially along Southgate, Southbank Promenade, Crown Promenade and down to DFO [South Wharf] – there are a lot of licensed venues, and we’ll be making sure we have a strong presence.”

Despite the staffing challenges, she emphasised that police were committed to maintaining safety across the precinct. •