A 50-person PoliceLink call centre and seized property depot are being considered for Townsville’s new $100m police facility, which is set to free up “valuable real estate” for police in the city.
Construction on the new Kirwan Police Precinct — which is expected to cost more than $100m in total — is set to begin in about a month as the demolition of former 1300Smiles football stadium nears completion.
Stage one of construction will include facilities — where up to 270 officers and staff will relocate to — replacing the current Kirwan Police Station on Thuringowa Dr, and will be the new home of Townsville’s Tactical Crime Squad, Rapid Action Patrols Group, Youth Co-responder Group, Strong Communities Group, Vulnerable Persons Unit and High Risk Team.
These facilities are expected to be operational within 18 months of construction, with work building the new Police Academy kicking off after that as part of stage two of the project.
It remains unclear what the state government intends to do with Townsville’s existing, outdated academy facility located in Belgian Gardens at this stage.
The current demolition site of the Kirwan Police Precinct. Picture: QPS
Police Minister Mark Ryan said they were looking at locating a new 50-person PoliceLink call centre at the new Kirwan precinct while speaking at a public information session about it on Wednesday.
Senior Sergeant Stewart McKinlay said PoliceLink currently only had one call centre in Brisbane and the addition of 50 new roles in Townsville — which are expected to cost about $5 million a year — would help cut down caller wait times.
Public information session for new Kirwan police precinct at the Brothers Leagues Club. Police Minister Mark Ryan and Senior Sergeant Stewart McKinlay. Picture: Evan Morgan
Police are also looking to use the facility as a centralised location where they can keep all the property that police seize or recover across Townsville to help free up “considerable space” at other stations.
Acting Assistant Commissioner Matthew Vanderbyl from the Organisational Capability Command said they would also being freeing up “valuable real estate” in police stations around the city by relocating all of Townsville’s district-based staff to the new $30m hub.
“That allows for the regional folks … to grow the numbers of the uniform and plain clothes investigators in those police stations,” he said.
Public information session for new Kirwan police precinct at the Brothers Leagues Club. Officer-in-charge Kirwan Police Station Matt Lyons talks to members of the public. Picture: Evan Morgan
“As we’re growing our numbers — with that 1450 extra frontline policing commitment by 2025 from the government — we’re going to have to put those numbers somewhere.”
It comes amid an ongoing recruitment crisis with Queensland Police Service now looking overseas to bolster the state’s thin blue line.
The proposed design of the new Kirwan Police Precinct. Picture: QPS
He said police would eventually begin the divest itself of the old Kirwan station, where 80 staff currently work, but they were looking at keeping their fleet service facility there for now.
“(The old station) will be initially offered to other government agencies who may have interest in that site at cost,” Mr Vanderbyl said.
Public information session for new Kirwan police precinct at the Brothers Leagues Club. Members of the public look at plans for the precinct. Picture: Evan Morgan
“It’s not a free item, but we’ll negotiate with other government agencies first and should no other agency want that block then we go to the open market for sale.”
Concept images of the new Kirwan police precinct being constructed at the site of the former 1300 Smiles football stadium.
Minister Ryan was also in Townsville to officially open the new Northern Region Fire and Emergency Services complex and headquarters on Webb Drive.
He said he could not disclose the full cost of the relocation due to issues with the deal being “commercial in confidence.”
“It’s a leased facility, so we’ve managed to consolidate three leases into one,” Minister Ryan said.
“From what I’m told, the total of those three lease payments is about the same as the annual lease payment of this one.”
Minister Ryan said the consultation was underway for the government’s vehicle immobiliser $10 million trial being rolled out in Townsville, Cairns and Mount Isa, with up to 20,000 subsidy vouchers available.
Engine immobilisers are electronic security devices embedded into a vehicle’s engine management system to stop it from starting without a unique key or code.
The Police Minister batted away criticisms that the immobilisers were simply a “band-aid solution” for North Queensland’s crime problems.
“It’s an added level of security, just like people that put alarms on houses and cars, or steering wheel locks,” Mr Ryan said.
“Once we’ve completed consultation this week, we will then announce more details for locals here in Townsville can apply for a subsidy voucher and then go about approaching an approved installer to get an innovative vehicle immobiliser installed.”
Loading embed…