PSOs rather than ‘crime fighting units’ should guard Melbourne’s quarantine hotels

Melbourne’s renewed hotel quarantine system would be “better served” if PSOs rather than “highly trained officers” were used to guard hotels, according to Sky News host Rita Panahi.

Travellers or returning Australians wishing to go to Melbourne have been forced to fly first to Sydney and quarantine there after Victoria’s hotel quarantine debacle shutdown the state’s program.

Hotel quarantine will resume in Melbourne on Monday with 100 Australian Defence Force personnel being deployed to assist with the program, as well as senior police officers.

Ms Panahi said there are many senior and highly trained officers which are going to be “pulled off everything from the murder squad, special crimes unit” and other critical crime fighting units to man these hotels.

“Perhaps it’s better to have them (Protective Services Officers) rather than pulling off crime fighting units that are needed on the street.”