Hiring more police for the frontline

Victorians expect police to be there when they need them. That’s why Labor will recruit 1,500 more police to keep our communities safe.

Labor will recruit 1,500 additional police, alongside the 200 extra PSOs and 400 reservists we’ve already funded – and we’ll give them the powers they need to search for knives.

You should be safe walking home from work, opening your shop or catching the train. We know there is more work to do, and getting more police onto our streets will help.

People want to join Victoria Police. We need to get them through recruitment and training sooner, so they can get to work protecting our communities.

Labor will open a new permanent police academy in Wyndham, so people in the west can train closer to home. We’ll also train recruits at Glen Waverley and the regional academies in Mildura and Gippsland.

We will introduce tough stop and search powers for police, so they can search people for knives – any age, in any public place, at any time of day.

Labor has already funded 200 extra PSOs and 400 reservists. The reservists will free up 86,000 police shifts a year, so more officers can be out in the community.

Police do difficult, and often dangerous, work. They deserve help when the job takes a toll. Labor will invest $10 million in BlueHub to help officers get the mental health support they need.

Labor believes everyone deserves to be safe, wherever they live and whatever they earn. We’ll back the police who protect us, so they can look after our communities and get home safely to their own families.