Chief Commissioner Ken Lay has blocked the state government from fulfilling promises to provide 24-hour police stations in two key seats claimed during the 2010 election.
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The Coalition funded more than $10 million of upgrades to stations in Mount Waverley and Emerald, but had to back down on the stations having 24-hour service when Mr Lay refused to roster on extra staff.
Police Minister Kim Wells has accepted that the areas will instead have officers on patrol for 24 hours, despite calls from locals for the Coalition to honour its commitment.
Emerald is in the marginal seat of Gembrook, which was claimed by former police officer Brad Battin in 2010 after then opposition leader Ted Baillieu promised that the town would have a new station. The station cost $8.8 million and was finished in February.
Mount Waverley was provided $1.5 million as part of an election commitment to renovate the station there, but local MP Michael Gidley was forced to admit that he could not ensure the station would be open around the clock.
Mr Lay released the blue paper earlier this month, which called for the force to have more control of rostering and for a shift from governments providing funding for new stations and officers as this was no longer sustainable.
Both sides of government are now weighing up how to frame law and order election policies, given the 2010 campaign featured hundreds of millions of dollars of commitments that force command have made clear restricted the effectiveness of their policing.
Mr Gidley told a local newspaper last week that the Coalition would honour its pledge. He beat the incumbent, the then-minister for children Maxine Morand, to win the seat of Mount Waverley with 57.45 per cent of the two-candidate preferred vote. ''We didn't put in $1.5 million to have a situation where the election commitment isn't going to be met,'' he said.
A police spokeswoman confirmed the station would open for only 16 hours a day, given the nearby 24-hour station in Glen Waverley, current demand and other resourcing in the region.
Emerald has also been repeatedly promised a 24-hour station, including since the election, but police are only rostered on for 16 hours. A police spokeswoman said future resourcing of Emerald would be decided soon.
Mr Wells said the government backed Mr Lay's decision to staff 24-hour patrols. ''The Coalition government strongly believes it is in the best interests of community safety that the Chief Commissioner and Victoria Police allocate resources as they see fit.''
Opposition police spokesman Wade Noonan said Mr Wells should admit he had broken election promises instead of trying to convince the community a 16-hour station was the same as a 24-hour station.
nbucci@theage.com.au
