Construction will start this month on the new Ballarat Forensic Hub at the Ballarat West Emergency Services precinct in Winter Valley.
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When finished mid next year, the new forensic lab will speed up processing of data and evidence recovered from crime scenes in the western half of the state.
Construction on the hub, one of two being built in regional Victoria, will start within weeks and when completed and fully operational will accommodate 12 new staff including 11 forensic officers.
The forensic officers will be trained to perform multi-disciplinary evidence recovery and preliminary analysis across a range of forensic disciplines including biological, chemical, digital, botanical, and fingerprint services.
The Ballarat Forensic Hub will mean forensic evidence collected from crime scenes across western region of Victoria can be transported and processed in Ballarat instead of being sent to the specialist forensics facility at Macleod in Melbourne where all of the state’s forensic evidence is currently sent.
Victoria Police Forensic Services executive director John Doherty said the new hub would allow local police to solve crimes more quickly and disrupt repeat offenders.
“The new regional forensic hub will significantly improve policing service to regional Victoria. Once it is complete, some of our most commonly encountered forensic evidence will no longer need to travel all the way to our laboratories in Macleod,” he said.
“More immediate access to preliminary results will assist investigators in detecting and apprehending criminals before they can commit further offences.”
The hub will improve services not just in western Victoria, but across the state.
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“While this regional hub will directly improve capabilities for the western region of Victoria Police, the impact will be felt around the state with increased staff and capacity allowing police to solve crime, faster.”
The state government announced in March that two regional forensics hubs would be built as part of the $596 million Public Safety Package announced in the 2016/17 Victorian budget with the Ballarat hub to be built at 1 Mirelle Drive, Winter Valley, as part of the Ballarat West Emergency Services precinct.
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The other will be built in the Latrobe Valley.
“The Ballarat forensic hub is about giving local police the ability to process data and evidence right here,” said member for Wendouree Sharon Knight.
“This will be so much faster and will bring specialist resources to the region to assist our dedicated officers in the work they do. The forensic hub will give police access to information securely to help fight crime and prosecute offenders,” she said.
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