Our regional members need better training facilities

Image from Herald Sun

The Herald Sun has recently reported that country police need to have their training facilities vastly improved to keep up with the widening gap with their metro colleagues. 

Our Secretary, Wayne Gatt, has called on VicPol to address this and begin to modernise the way our regional members are trained.  

“Our regional members ­deserve the same opportunities as our members in metropolitan areas, and currently there is a wide gap that we fear will only get wider if it’s not ­addressed soon,” he said.

Currently there are 10 sites across Victoria for operational safety training.

The Police Association is calling for the establishment of better operational safety training facilities, satellite training capabilities and virtual classrooms in regional Victoria.

“It is imperative for the ­professional growth of our regional members that Victoria Police investigates alternate decentralised delivery of training, at professional facilities open to use by regional police,” Mr Gatt said.

It was important the force and the state government looked at ways to modernise regional training, he said.

“Training should incorporate new technologies that ­provide distance learning platforms, such as virtual classrooms, to link regional members in to courses run from the police academy,” Mr Gatt said.

“Increasing the quality of, and access to, specialist physical training for regional police is another key focus.

“Metropolitan police enjoy ready access to facilities like modern firing ranges, hydra training and scenario-based training facilities. We need to ensure regional members do not fall ­behind on the latest training practices due to the absence of local specialist training facilities.”

11 July 2018