The Queensland Police Service (QPS) has officially opened a brand new and purpose-built station in the remote town of Clermont to better support the community into the future.
The Clermont Police Station, 380km inland from Rockhampton, services an area of 24,361 sq/km and is staffed by one Sergeant Officer in Charge (OIC), four Senior Constables/Constables and one Administrative Officer.
The new facility provides more space to better accommodate the needs of staff and community members and includes a separate watchhouse building with two cells and a vehicle holding yard.
The new facility replaces the old Clermont station, which was built in 1939 on the same plot of land.
The Acting Commissioner of Police, Shane Chelepy APM, said the new station is better placed to support the needs of the district both now and into the future.
"The old Clermont police station was built in 1939 and has served the community well," Acting Commissioner Chelepy said.
"This new station is purpose-built for modern day policing and has enhanced facilities for frontline policing, with all the necessary functions to support our current and foreseeable future operations.
"It also represents a new chapter in the long, proud history of the QPS in the Clermont area."
Sergeant Steve French, Officer in Charge (OIC) of Clermont Station, has served in the district since 2022 and enjoys working in the tight-knit community.
"Clermont is a town that likes to see police involved in community events, and we are often invited to participate in activities like judging local competitions and leading town parades," Sergeant French said.
"As a team here, we focus on building good relationships with the community so that when we need to ask residents for assistance, particularly when it comes to investigating criminal matters, they are happy to help.
"We are lucky not to have a lot of crime in Clermont, so we are able to invest a significant amount of effort into community engagement and proactive activities such as school programs, driver licensing and rural patrols to some of our more isolated areas."
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Clermont is a town rich in history and was the first inland tropical settlement in Queensland.
It has a divisional population of approximately 3,900 people and has had a permanent police presence since 1863 when the town was first declared.
Nowadays, Clermont sees little crime, but back in the early 1800s it was the site of a major conflict during the shearers' strike of 1891, when detachments of soldiers and police reinforcements were sent to the town to deal with striking shearers.
The first Clermont Police station was built in 1878, but after a fire destroyed parts of the building in 1933, plans were put in place for a replacement.
Interim repairs were made to keep the old station operational until the new station opened in 1939.
The new Clermont station was built closer to the centre of town and the courthouse, away from the lower areas of Clermont which were submerged during the 1916 flood that claimed the lives of at least 61 people.
Had it not been for the overnight on-duty constable, who recognised the town was at risk of flooding after prolonged heavy rainfall, many more lives would have been lost.
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