Traders, Duncan McFetridge question police response times after Glenelg station hours cut
A LOCAL MP says Glenelg businesses are forming self-help groups because they do not trust police to respond to incidents quickly enough.
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MORPHETT MP Duncan McFetridge says Glenelg traders are “living in fear” and forming self-help groups because they do not trust local police to respond to incidents quickly enough.
It comes one year after the hours at Glenelg’s police station were cut, despite a strong community backlash.
Dr McFetridge said in his 16 years as the local state MP it is the first time he had encountered traders who are organising self-help groups because they feel threatened.
“The issue has evolved to the point where traders are living in fear and are getting together to form, not vigilante groups, but certainly self-protection groups,” he said.
“They don’t have any faith in the response times of police and you should have the confidence to phone 000 if you are feeling that threatened and know they are going to turn up pretty quickly.”
In September last year, police announced the Glenelg station’s hours would be cut to 9am-5pm Monday-Friday, instead of 7.30am-10pm every day.
More than 2600 people signed a petition circulated by Dr McFetridge after the proposed changes were revealed in March.
A Jetty Rd trader, who did not want to be named, said she had organised with nearby businesses to come to her aid if an incident occurs.
“The officers can’t leave the station so we just don’t know how long it will take for the police to respond,” she said.
Dr McFetridge said anecdotal evidence showed there was a lot of concern, particularly among traders.
However, when contacted they were not willing to speak to CoastCity Weekly.
Last month, Jetty Rd butcher Brian’s Gourmet Meats was set ablaze causing about $40,000 worth of damage.
Two workers were out the back, preparing meat cuts, when an intruder entered through the unlocked front door and set the shop alight.
Glenelg is staffed by two officers during open hours – but they are unable to leave the station.
Previously, officers would conduct foot patrols each day, particularly up and down Jetty Rd.
Dr McFetridge said local knowledge and intelligence cannot be overlooked.
“I was promised we would be having the same level of patrols down on the street but I haven’t seen or been given any evidence of that aside from the occasional police car driving down,” he said.
However, police minister Peter Malinauskas said officers at Glenelg now conduct between 10-15 hours of beat patrols per week in the area, compared to 2.5 hours on average under the old system.
“When demand peaks during the summer months, SAPOL will respond to that demand by increasing their presence through deployment of their resources,” he said.
Mr Malinauskas said there would be no further changes to the hours of the Glenelg station.