A new police forensic facility will be built in Ballarat.
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The hub, one of two to be built in Victoria, is expected to be announced today when police minister Lisa Neville visits the city.
Between Ballarat and the Latrobe Valley, there will be 22 new forensic officers and two additional support staff deployed to the regional hubs.
The Ballarat hub will be located at the Ballarat West police precinct in Winter Valley.
Victoria Police Forensic Services Department executive director John Doherty said the Ballarat West hubs’ location was selected to improve policing service to Victoria’s western region.
“The regional hubs will mean evidence collected from the scenes of crime in regional Victoria will no longer need to travel all the way to our forensic laboratories in Macleod to be tested,” he said.
“More immediate access to forensic intelligence will assist our investigators in detecting and apprehending criminals before they can commit further offences.
“A stray fingerprint or piece of trace evidence may be unnoticeable to offenders fleeing a scene but our specialised forensic officers can detect evidence left behind and analyse it to help put offenders before the courts.”
Mr Doherty said forensic officers at the regional facilities would undertake specialist work including fingerprint analysis, evidence recovery, preliminary drug testing and DNA analysis.
“These regional forensics hubs represent a strong improvement in community safety and are great news for local police and local communities,” he said.
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“While the two hubs will be located in Ballarat West and in the Latrobe Valley, their impact will be felt around the state with faster forensic turnaround times.”
Construction will commence this year on the two regional hubs which are expected to commence operation in 2019.
