RETIRED police officer Ray Woodcock says Cockburn council hasn’t done enough to stand up for the police station in Spearwood.

Two years ago Mr Woodcock gathered a petition of almost 2500 signatures from local business opposing the station’s closure, but the cop shop on the corner of Rockingham Road and Newton Street is now set to be replaced by a $21 million police complex near Cockburn Central.

“I don’t believe our councils are doing enough. No one sees anything that they’re doing,” Mr Woodcock bristled.

The ex-cop doesn’t believe a centralised police station can effectively police the area given its growing population.

“That’s all hoodwinks. It’s a load of rubbish.”

• Ray Woodcock has a watchful eye on Cockburn police. Photo by Trilokesh Chanmugam

“The ratio of police to residents is getting out of whack,” Mr Woodcock says, opening a folder with meticulous records of officer resignations in the last seven years.

“Police are not out in the neighbourhood on patrol because they’re busy tasking. They’re out of touch with the community.”

“It’s not their fault,” he says. “They’re overworked and underfunded.”

Police commissioner Karl O’Callaghan says the old station is old and too expensive to fix up.

Cockburn mayor Logan Howlett wouldn’t comment on Mr Woodcock’s criticism, but says “congestion will adversely impact the distances/response times from either Fremantle Police Station or the new Cockburn Central Police Hub when it opens”.

“We would expect to see both stations operating into the future.”

by TRILOKESH CHANMUGAM