Victoria cops unleash an angry blast at Premier Jacinta Allan – as under-siege Melbourne residents take the law into their own hands over city crime spree

The Victorian Police Union has slammed Premier Jacinta Allan and her state government after a spate of burglaries forced residents to hire private security guards.

Police Association Victoria released a blistering statement on Friday following an “explosion of home burglaries” in Melbourne’s suburbs.

The union said residents were “forced to employ their own private security” to patrol their neighborhoods and ward off potential trespassers.

“This is an indictment of the government’s failure to adequately resource our police force,” the statement read.

They added that crime is so high because the police force has “1,000 vacancies, more than 900 police officers are unemployed due to injuries and illness and 43 police stations are closing.”

Due to a lack of officers in the field, the union claims it does not have sufficient resources to prevent crimes and only arrest offenders.

“The result we are now seeing is neighborhoods banding together to finance their own private security, and not for the first time,” the union said.

“This is simply unacceptable.”

The police union targeted the top levels of the state and government, who they said were “sitting on their hands” instead of finding a solution.

It comes as residents of Melbourne’s suburbs were forced to hire private security guards in a bid to prevent a wave of home burglaries (file image)

The union called on the state government to “come to the table and negotiate fair pay” to attract new recruits and halt the “exodus of experienced police officers”.

“Such action will help reverse this worrying trend and ensure our police force is adequately resourced, rather than leaving communities behind,” the statement read.

The years-long dispute led to officers warning motorists about the location of speed cameras as part of an industrial action in September.

An agreement in principle was reached that would give officers nine days’ work in May and a 16 percent pay increase over four years.

However, the deal was rejected by the members and the parties returned to the negotiating table.

The union’s claims were later rejected by the Victorian government and the previously proposed agreement was withdrawn, bringing negotiations back to zero, the police union said on Thursday.

“Our members do not want to take class action, but since submitting a revised set of claims to Victoria Police they have been unable to engage in meaningful negotiations,” secretary Wayne Gatt said.

One of the claims is that police want a 24 percent pay increase over four years and that the time spent at the start and end of their shift donning and doffing their equipment as part of their shift is considered rather than an unpaid addition thereto.