21 GEORGE STREET, MORWELL 3840
TELEPHONE 0351354444
MONDAY, 10 MAY, 2021
14
www.latrobevalleyexpress.ccom.au
17
SHOWER OR TWO
PARTLY CLOUDY
19
MOSTLY SUNNY
$1.8 80 inc. GST
16
SHOWERS
PURPLE POWER PAGE 5
LAB IS JUST FAB A new age in solving crime: Senior Forensic Officers Jenna Banbury and Chris Sage inside the Drug Counter laboratory. By ZAC STANDISH
A STATE-of-the-art Morwell regional forensics hub has already saved local police more than 1000 hours by helping to fast-track investigations in Gippsland. Acting Victoria Police Minister Danny Pearson was in Morwell on Friday with top police brass including Deputy Victoria Police Commissioner Wendy Steendam to officially open the $6 million facility. The Morwell hub is one of two of its kind in regional Victoria, with the other one in Ballarat, meaning local officers can now complete their duties without heading to the metropolitan hub in Macleod. It offers a comprehensive range of forensic services, specialising in evidence recovery across biological, chemical, digital, botanical and finger print testing. It features examination facilities, a screen room for DNA examinations, a digital forensics space, property storage and offices. Victoria Police’s forensic services department executive director Rebecca Kogios said since it had opened two years ago, it has saved local officers 113,000 kilometres in travel time, equating
Solving crimes: Deputy Victoria Police Commissioner Wendy Steendam, with Labor Member for Eastern Victoria Harriet Shing and Acting Police Minister Danny Pearson officially open the new Morwell forensics hub. photograph michelle slater
to an estimated 1230 policing hours. Ms Kogios the time from collection to lodgement at the forensic lab has decreased by 25 per cent, and has cut processing times in half. “Prior to the opening of the forensic hub in Morwell, all the Victoria Police
major forensic services were functioning out of a single facility in metropolitan Melbourne,” Ms Kogios said. “So we were pretty limited in the range of forensic services we could offer regional Victoria. “The benefit there is for community
photograph zac standish
safety, as officers now have more time out in the field and are able to solve crimes much faster,” she said. Latrobe Crime Investigation Unit Detective Senior Sergeant Trevor Vondrasek said the hub allowed his unit to do their jobs more effectively and learn how evidence is examined. “The saving in time has been extraordinary, on a decent day when we had to travel to Macleod it would be a two-hour trip one way and then travelling back. So we would tend to bank up exhibits and wait for someone with the time to go down there, which would significantly delay getting things analysed,” he said. “We have had more of a chance to liaison with the staff here which has seen us get to know their systems a lot better and build a relationship with them, resulting in a greater understanding of how the entire forensics system operates.” Mr Pearson said the new hub was a “huge investment” for the community. “This is about making sure people in the Latrobe Valley have access to modern 21st century facilities and have more police on the beat working to keep the community safe,” he said.
PUZZLES, BRAIN STRAIN - IT IS TIME TO TAKE A BREAK: PAGE 6
GP1625396
Be an individual and create your own design
SHOP 6, 1F MOORE STREET, MOE 51262431
www.lvdrafting.com.au admin@lvdrafting.com.au
Thinking
Mobility A More Moe
Shed?
Think Eureka...
Let us help you get out and abou ut. . .
100% Australian Owned... 100% Australian Madee. Come and see the local blokes for a quote
Garages and Sheds
Visit our display centre at 188 Argyle Street Traralgon.
Phone 5174 5311
GP1626317
What’s the big idea?
eet 32 George Street 9 Moe 5127 2099
PINK BUNS FOR GREAT CAUSE PAGE 8
FOOTY AND NETTY ROUND-UP VALLEY SPORT
