The small community of Chiltern wants a bigger police presence to ensure their town is being kept safe.
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Residents have raised their concerns with Indigo councillor Sophie Price, herself the mother of a young child living in the area.
She asked her fellow councillors at last week’s meeting to work with her in pushing for change.
“I’ve had a lot of concerns raised with me by the Chiltern community of late about the lack of a police prescence in the town,” she said.
“I would like to propose that the CEO and the mayor and any interested councillors meet with the Superintendent to discuss the police presence, both in Chiltern and the wider Indigo Shire and put it on the agenda.”
Councillors voted unanimously in favour of having a discussion with Victoria Police.
Chiltern has a police station, but when it is unattended, residents are told to contact either the Beechworth or Rutherglen police stations, which are only open 16 hours per day and closed at night.
The nearest 24-hour stations are in Wodonga and Wangaratta.
Indigo mayor Jenny O’Connor said yesterday the council was writing to police management to discuss the issue.
“I want to reassure the Chiltern community that we’re across the issues and we’re following it up,” she said.
She said it is no longer the case where every country town in Victoria has a police presence.
“The way police resources are allocated has changed over time and the impact is felt in small rural communities,” Cr O’Connor said.
“There’s just that feeling that people want police nearby to respond.”
The latest crime statistics show Indigo Shire had experienced an increase in both property crimes such as burglary and theft, up from 187 offences in 2016 to 238 in 2017, which goes against the trend for the rest of Victoria where the offences in the category decreased by 13.8 per cent.
Indigo Shire’s crimes against the person such as assault were also up from 100 offences in 2016 to 154 in 2017.
The Victorian government announced last month that 33 new police officers would be stationed in the North East, predominantly in family violence roles, but the exact station locations had not been determined.
