Country police to get 4WDs

NEW four-wheel drives will be delivered to the Gatton, Helidon and Laidley police stations following requests put in after the January floods.

THE Lockyer Valley police's lack of four-wheel drive police vehicles during the floods has been questioned by Member for Lockyer Ian Rickuss.

Mr Rickuss said the region's police did not have any four-wheel drives during the floods and had to borrow council vehicles rather than risk their smaller sedans to traverse flooded roads.

New four-wheel drives will be delivered to the Gatton, Helidon and Laidley stations following requests put in after the floods.

Mr Rickuss said while he was happy with this he didn't understand why the stations were without one before the floods.

"You probably don't need every vehicle to be a four-wheel drive, but you need some," he said.

"The roads out here aren't too bad, but there are plenty of gravel roads and there is 17,000 acres of state forest."

Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers said four-wheel drives were vital in times of crisis.

"Ian Rickuss is exactly right. Police are under-resourced and understaffed particularly in growth corridors such as the west of Brisbane through to Toowoomba," he said.

"It is no secret that there is a lack of four-wheel drive vehicles that are fit for purpose for the semi-rural police divisions between Brisbane and Toowoomba."

Mr Leavers said the union had been calling for the corridor west of Ipswich to see increased police numbers for more than a year.

"This area needs an extra 100 police to keep up with the massive growth and it is high time the government realised this and allocated police accordingly."

Originally published as Country police to get 4WDs