Hume will gain 36 additional police officers in the next few weeks, but it is unknown how many will be allocated to Sunbury.
The new officers are part of 300 extra front-line police who will be sent to work in Melbourne’s growth suburbs.
Police Association secretary Sergeant Wayne Gatt said the deployment of these officers to areas where police are most stretched will positively impact the prevention and reduction of crime.
“We commend both the Government and Victoria Police for being true to their commitment to prioritise the deployment of the first 300 officers recruited to the main growth corridors of Melbourne where population is booming and where more police are most urgently required,” Senior Sergeant Gatt said.
Boosting police numbers in Sunbury has been an ongoing issue in the town as it grapples with high crime rates.
Crime across Hume in 2016 rose 14.3 per cent from the previous year, according to Crime Statistics Agency Data, exceeding the statewide increase of 10.2 per cent.
The city recorded the most homicides and violence-related offences of all Melbourne municipalities.
Within Hume, Sunbury saw a 2.3 per cent increase in the number of reported offences in 2016, up to 3056 from 2991 in 2015.
Drug dealing and trafficking, along with breaches of court orders, were behind the town’s increase in crime.
Western Metropolitan MP Bernie Finn, a Bulla resident, has said he is concerned whether Sunbury will receive any new officers.
“Hume is a fairly big area, I will be interested to know how many are for Sunbury,” Mr Finn said.
Sunbury Residents Association president Peter Free said he hopes Sunbury will receive some of the 36 police officers.
“As our population grows we need more police officers,” Mr Free said. “We’re under-resourced. We sometimes lack police, they get overstretched,” he said. “Police need to be seen around the street more, we rarely see a police officer on the street here.”
Chief Commission Graham Ashton said the deployment of new recruits would assist local communities. “These allocations will allow us to put more police out on patrol, responding where and when needed in the community,” he said.
The state government announced last year it would fund the recruitment of 3135 new officers over four years.
