The safety of local communities across Victoria will receive a significant boost under a new commitment announced today by the Victorian Liberals and Nationals.
Despite response times being published for ambulance, fire and state emergency services, Victoria remains the only state in Australia that doesn’t measure and publicly report police response times.
Emergency service response times are a critical tool to monitor emergency response effectiveness and guide the allocation of resources.
The lack of recorded response times is a missed opportunity to deliver faster and more efficient emergency responses, as well as boost community confidence in Victoria Police.
Despite promising to introduce police response times since 2019, the Andrews Labor Government has failed to deliver on this important community safety commitment.
Furthermore, under Daniel Andrews, community satisfaction with policing services and police responses to emergencies and disasters have fallen below the Australian average.
Therefore, a Matt Guy Liberals and Nationals Government will take action to;
- Introduce response times for Victoria Police in line with other emergency services.
- Ensure that Victoria Police has the police numbers and other resources needed to deliver these effective response times.
These measures are an important step to increasing transparency, boosting performance and restoring community confidence in Victoria Police.
Leader of the Liberal Party, Matt Guy, said this important commitment was a real solution to deliver safer communities across Victoria.
“Response times are good for police and good for local communities. This is a common-sense change that will boost community safety across Victoria.”
“Only the Liberals and Nationals have real solutions to increase community safety and restore confidence in Victoria Police.”
Shadow Minister for Police, Brad Battin, said the introduction of police response times was an important step forward to a more transparent, effective police service.
“Every Victorian deserves to know that when they call Triple-Zero, a prompt, professional response is on the way.”
“Daniel Andrews has failed to act on police response times for years. Only a change of government will deliver this important community safety initiative.”