New Bridgwater police station opens

The new 12.5 million dollar police headquarters at Bridgewater is now finished, with the station fully operational and a base for a new era of policing in Southern Tasmania. 

The new station replaces the 40 year old previous building which was built back in 1981, and is double its size. 

Tasmania Police Southern District Commander Jason Elmer said the new station expanded policing capabilities to cover the Brighton municipality, Derwent Valley, Central Highlands and Southern Midlands regions. 

Improvements include providing increased capacity for officers, conference facilities, an incident management centre, a vulnerable witness interview room, and enhanced office and staff amenities. 

The Bridgewater station operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week and will accommodate around 44 constables , six sergeants, one divisional sergeant; one divisional inspector; one detective sergeant; and six detective constables. 

The new Bridgewater station follows the rebuild of the New Norfolk Police Station which cost $5 million that opened back in 2022.

Tasmania Police Inspector of the Bridgewater Division Luke Horne said "The Brighton and Derwent Valley plus surrounding regions have experienced significant population growth recently, adding to the need for expanded resources and improved facilities. With our new, purpose-built station here in Bridgewater as a home base, we are confident we can continue to meet anticipated growth in policing requirements in the Division.” 

Residents of the Derwent Valley have been recently voicing their concerns over police presence and action in regards to antisocial behaviour and they're also concerned about Police response and reporting issues. 

Tasmania Police continues to encourage everyone to report all antisocial, suspicious or illegal activity.