Too many times members of Victoria Police – and in particular those in highway patrol units – have been the victims of sickening and violent attacks, including police vehicles being rammed and officers assaulted.

Working on the frontline of Victoria Police can be dangerous and unpredictable.

The number of those attacks have been significantly reduced since the adoption of the two-up policy by Victoria Police last year. The policy means two officers, rather than one, must be in patrols cars while on duty.

But the necessary consequence of police safety seems to have resulted in a significantly reduced presence on our roads.

Now Ballarat’s former top policeman Bob Barby has called for an increase in the number of highway patrol units in the region.

Mr Barby agrees “100 per cent” that police safety is paramount, but he believes the new policy is leaving local officers hamstrung to adequately perform their duties.

He said there were currently only 10 Ballarat highway patrol members, the same figure has a decade ago.  And he believes the staffing shortage, combined with an increase in crime and safety issues, resulted in half the number of officers and a reduced effectiveness of the highway patrol unit.

In response to these claims Victoria Police Association secretary Ron Iddles said the new two-up policy was a must to ensure member safety.

“There is a lot about street policing that you can’t control, but having a partner to watch your back and provide immediate assistance is something that you can,” Mr Iddles said.

And Police Minister Lisa Neville said the state government funded an extra 1300 highway patrol shifts at the end of last year, putting more police on our roads in the lead up to the high-risk Christmas period. 

But for our men and women in blue to perform their duties adequately, there needs to be permanent extra patrol shifts, not just over a high-risk period.

The whole community needs to feel comfortable in knowing their vital information about road-related incidences can be addressed promptly by police.

We can’t let those idiots on our roads who think they can get away with flouting the laws – with putting other people’s lives at risk by driving unlicensed or in a dangerous manner – to  get away with it.