Botany Bay police command to be split between Redfern, Eastern Beaches
A senior police officer has today confirmed details of a proposed merger of south Sydney commands, which will see three become two in a redistribution of resources.
Central Sydney
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Redfern and Botany Bay police area commands will be merged and renamed under a proposed pooling of resources in south Sydney.
Botany Bay’s staff and patch would be split between Redfern and Eastern Beaches commands, turning three individual commands into two.
In a letter posted to social media by Redfern Superintendent Andrew Holland on Tuesday, it was confirmed the amalgamated Redfern and Botany territory would likely be renamed South Sydney police area command.
He said staff would be between stations in the Redfern and Eastern Beaches commands based on current staffing ratios.
Supt Holland said under the changes staff would still work out of Redfern, while South Sydney command’s custody facilities would be based at Mascot police station.
“The purpose of this realignment is to redistribute police resources to better address changing crime trends, infrastructure development, population growth and the service needs of those communities,” Supt Holland said.
“Previous consolidation of commands has resulted in greater proactive and investigative capabilities at the larger commands, with improved response times and more available staff.
“This is in line with the Commissioner’s drive to target crime through prevention, disruption and response.”
Supt Holland said moving of custody facilities to Mascot would require some changes to custody support services.
NSW Police began consulting with staff at the three commands on April 17, according to a spokeswoman.
“It is expected there will be some changes to staffing — both sworn and unsworn — but there will not be any loss of positions or redundancies,” she said.
Eastern Beaches command would keep its name and extend its boundaries to take in more suburbs in Sydney’s south east.
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It currently has two police stations in Maroubra and Randwick, and covers suburbs including Centennial Park, Chifley, Clovelly, Coogee, Kensington, Kingsford, La Perouse, Little Bay, Malabar, Maroubra, Matraville, Phillip Bay, Randwick and South Coogee.
Redfern currently covers Alexandria, Beaconsfield, Chippendale, Darlington, Erskineville, Eveleigh, Redfern, parts of Rosebery, Waterloo and Zetland.
Botany Bay command watches over Banksmeadow, Botany, Daceyville, Eastgardens, Eastlakes, Hillsdale, Mascot, Pagewood, Port Botany and the rest of Rosebery.
It also oversees aspects of policing at Sydney Airport.