By ANEEKA SIMONIS
LANG Lang police station will soon reopen, this time under new conditions, according to Cardinia’s top cop.
In May, sweeping new anti-terror policies saw the closure of the previously one-man station as the police worked to provide safer working conditions for officers faced with the rising threat of terror.
The station, previously opened eight hours per week, was closed on Thursday 7 May, raising alarm in the Lang Lang community afflicted by increasing levels of crime.
However, Cardinia Police Service Area Inspector Shane Smith has some good news.
The station, which has undergone a number of security checks to comply with the nation’s increased terror threat, will be reopened within days.
It will comply with the state’s new requirements – for officers to work in at least pairs at all times.
“Lang Lang police station is re-commencing a public inquiry service on Monday 13 July. The service will consist of one full day per week, each Monday between the hours of 10.30am and 5pm,” Insp Smith wrote in a statement to the Gazette.
He said the town had full access to Cardinia police during the interim closure, including the nearby 16-hour police station in Kooweerup.
However, local residents told the Gazette they were not comforted by police operating from a distance, claiming incidents had gone unanswered by police in the past, since the town lost their full-time police officer in 2011.
“There is no police deterrent here in town. They come here, do what they like and get away with it,” resident Brian Candy told the Gazette in May this year.
The Gazette tried to contact residents to get their reaction to the news but they were unavailable.
Inspector Smith said the new policing system would be under constant review.
“As with all service delivery across Cardinia, this will constantly be reviewed to ensure service demand is being addressed,” he wrote.
“I take this opportunity to remind people needing urgent police assistance to ring triple zero. In non-urgent matters they can contact their local police.”
