By Michael Doran
What does the ‘closed’ sign in the window of Warburton Police Station actually mean?
It seems some residents believe a closed station means they have no local police presence to call on and that somehow they are bereft of Victoria Police support.
In charge of policing in the Yarra Ranges is Local Area Commander, Inspector Peter Wheeler who said that police services in the region are covered by a network of 10 stations
“Lilydale, Mooroolbark and Belgrave operate 24 hours and the other seven are non-24 hour stations, including Yarra Junction and Warburton,” he said.
“Those two work to support each other by providing coverage across the area 16 hours a day between 6am and midnight. Outside of those hours direct support comes from Lilydale or Mooroolbark stations.
“Officers are at the station until they get a call to attend an incident and then they are gone and the station is closed. For the local community this can give the mistaken impression that there are no police in the area or no-one is at work.
The advice for those who wish to visit in person is to call the station first and if it is unmanned to leave a message so that the call can be returned. However in every emergency situation the best option is always to call 000.
Officer-in-charge at Warburton, Sergeant Tom Wilkinson said it is always important to report concerns to police and to leave your contact details.
“We can’t remedy a problem we don’t know about and there might be a trend happening in an area,” he said. “If we know about that we will respond with extra patrols or other actions.
“With an area of 2500 square kilometres, we are always faced with setting priorities but it doesn’t mean that your job is not important; it just means we are on something that needs an immediate response.
“I also want everyone to understand they are served by Victoria Police, not just Warburton station. We call on support from Yarra Junction, Healesville, Yarra Glen, Lilydale or the Highway Patrol when we need to.
“If anyone has concerns about the service or station attendance in the area then please get in touch with me at warburton.uni@police.vic.gov.au or call on 5966 2006.
“I want to assure everyone in the area that we are working hard to give the best service we can with the resources at our disposal. Please tell me when you have issues with any aspect of policing in this area because that’s the feedback that makes things happen.”
