Kew
The first Kew police station opened in 1855 on Bulleen Road, which later became known as High Street.
Yarraville
The Yarraville Police Station, in Schild Street, was a brick building with an adjoining double-storey residence when it opened in August 1956.
The station closed eight years later but reopened on the same site in 1864. In 1888, a new station of red brick and render replaced it at 190 High Street.
Police from this station served warrants, performed general duties including mobile and foot patrol, and crowd control at local football matches.
The Kew Police Station’s first tenants were Sergeant 1st Class James McGrath who served Victoria Police for 27 years, until his retirement in 1893, and constables John Garde, Henry Gray and Michael Cregan.
The officer in charge occupied the adjoining residence, until this practice ceased in 1977.
The Police Gazette at the time recorded “horse and cattle stealing, highway robbery, deserters from Her Majesty’s Service and escaped inmates from the Yarra Bend Lunatic Asylum”, among its most serious crimes. A subsequent 1930 Gazette described the building as a six-roomed brick dwelling, with slate roof, three cells, a bathroom, luncheon room, medical and educational facilities. In 1988, a Kew urban conservation study noted that the police station, court house and post office were “unified in design and combined to form one of the most impressive complexes of buildings in Victoria”. It added the buildings were “an early and successful example by architect John Henry Harvey of ‘English vernacular free style’ and an influential precursor to Edwardian architecture”. The Kew Police Station closed in 2002 and its operations were relocated to Boroondara Police Complex in Kew East, where its more prevalent crimes now include theft, burglaries, property damage and assaults. The old station, which was the longest continuously operating metropolitan police station, and the adjoining court house are heritage-listed by the National Trust. The former police station now houses the Kew Historical Society and an art gallery.
This was the last of three police stations in Yarraville, with the first to open in Simpson Street, in December 1879. It operated until 1937, when it was relocated to Willis Street. In its early history, Yarraville was characteristically a highly industrial area, predominantly comprising migrant blue-collar workers who earned their living from local factories and nearby wharves. The town’s small commercial centre in Anderson Street once provided a choice of three banks, a similar number of grocers, butchers and pharmacists, and a department store. Yarraville is now a vibrant village with a number of cafes and restaurants added to its strip that are well-patronised by a new generation. One of its longest-serving police and officer in charge, Sergeant Graham Johnson, was presented a Police Award in December 1985, for his work towards the “development of harmonious relations between police and ethnic communities”. Sgt Johnson, who accepted his award from Chief Commissioner Mick Miller, said he had tried to instil in his staff the importance of breaking down barriers with migrants. “The police at my station have developed a good rapport with the ethnic communities in the area who often help us with information, which makes our job a lot easier,” he said. Yarraville Police Station closed in December 1997, and the building is now used for osteotherapy consulting.
Warrnambool – 7-9 Gillies Street Four police buildings, comprising police station, residence, stables and lock-up, constructed between 1883 and 1888, closed in 1998. It is now used by South West TAFE. Brighton – 27 Wilson Street Built in 1853, it replaced the town’s first police station in Dendy Street. The two-storey building is now a residential property. Eltham – 728 Main Road A police complex incorporating a courthouse opened in 1860. The buildings closed in 1984 and is now used by community groups including the Eltham District Historical Society. Southbank – 234 St Kilda Road This former Victoria Police Depot from 1912 housed the mounted branch stables, riding school, drill hall and police hospital. The site is now occupied by the Victorian College of the Arts. Echuca – 1 Dickson Street This single-storey red-brick building was designed by the Public Works Department and completed in 1866. Additional rooms and a three-cell lockup were added later. The buildings were closed in 1969 and are now used as a museum. Hawthorn – 616 Glenferrie Road This police station, which was occupied at the beginning of the last century, closed in 2002. The site is now occupied by a motel and commercial premises. Coburg – 160 Bell Street Built in 1928 and closed in 2005, this former police station is on the Victorian Heritage register for its local historic and aesthetic significance to the City of Moreland. It is now a restaurant, named in honour of its former occupiers, called the 'Old Cop Shop'. Trentham – Camp Street The town’s first police station and courthouse was built in 1866. The building is now the town’s historical society museum.
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Images Police Stations of the Past 01 T he first Victoria Police members of Bourke Street West Police Station. 02 Bourke Street West police cells. 03 Front view of Bourke Street West Police Station. 04 K ew Police Station and courthouse. 05 Yarraville Police Station in 1997. 06 T he former Brighton Police Station building in Wilson Street. Editorial: Chris Metevelis
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POLICE LIFE | WINTER 2018
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