Boulder residents call for permanent police station after fake set sparks hope

For three days this year, locals in the historic main street of Boulder, in Western Australia's Goldfields, got a glimpse of what it would be like with a police station back in town.

There was just one problem — the station was not real.

Boulder's heritage-listed courthouse had been transformed into a fictional police station for the upcoming Stan crime series Two Birds, which has been filming in the region.

While it was just set dressing, Ronnie and Stephen Maddocks, who run the neighbouring Grand Hotel, said the change on Burt Street was almost immediate.

"Everything went dead quiet for about three days until they realised it wasn't a real police station," Ms Maddocks said.

While the set has since been dismantled, locals want fiction to become fact, with calls growing for a permanent police presence to return.

Home to shops and a number of historic pubs, Boulder's main street has also been a magnet for crime and antisocial behaviour.

Just last weekend, a worker at one of the licensed premises was allegedly threatened with a hammer, after trying to stop someone stealing cash and alcohol.

Mr Maddocks said he once had a knife pulled on him while waiting with a customer for a taxi.

He said customers at the Grand had also been attacked when leaving.

Their concerns are shared by more than 1,000 people who have signed a petition calling for a 24-hour shopfront police station on Burt Street.

Historic street struggling for confidence

Boulder and neighbouring Kalgoorlie developed as separate towns before amalgamating in 1989, but retain separate and distinctive identities.

In a decade behind the counter, Boulder Newsagency owner Mike Saville said he has watched visitor numbers steadily decline.

Mr Saville said theft and verbal abuse had become a daily problem, and more foot patrols from police could help.

"Police presence should be walking up and down the street," he said.

"Not all day long every day, but up and down the street for an hour in the morning, an hour in the afternoon, so people see them."

The Maddocks have noticed more police vehicles and occasional foot patrols since the campaign for a permanent presence began.

"When that's happening, everything goes a little bit quieter," Ms Maddocks said.

She acknowledged a police post alone would not address all of the issues facing the area.

"I think it would be a good start trying to breathe a bit of life back into the place," she said.

"Because if people don't feel comfortable going to the shops, they're not going to come."

Police point to existing patrols

Kalgoorlie Police Station sits about 5 kilometres from Burt Street, with WA Police saying officers respond to calls across Kalgoorlie-Boulder 24 hours a day and regularly patrol Boulder.

Operation Regional Shield was extended to the Goldfields in 2024, bringing more police officers and law enforcement resources to the region to address escalating concerns about anti-social behaviour.

Police would not disclose the current staffing levels, but said resources were continually assessed and allocated based on operational demand and community safety needs.

WA Police data shows 1,742 offences were recorded in Boulder in 2025, up from 1,515 in 2024.

Within the first six months of this year, 1,141 offences had already been recorded.

'Feet on the street'

The local campaign has the support of Dave Grills, a former Kalgoorlie-Boulder police officer who walked the beat on Burt Street, prior to the closure of the previous post.

The post was a replacement for the former Boulder Police Station, which closed in the early 1990s.

He later served as an Upper House MP for the WA Nationals, sat on the Kalgoorlie-Boulder City council and is currently a councillor at the Shire of Mundaring in the Perth Hills.

"To have that presence down there is the thing that's needed, it's how the police will do it with the resources they have," he said.

He said he tried unsuccessfully to have the shopfront retained after being told it could no longer be resourced.

The petition to reopen the post, signed by 1,171 people, was tabled in WA Parliament on September 10 by Liberal MP Neil Thomson.

Mr Thomson said retailers had raised concerns with him about theft, drug use and worker safety.

"They share the immense frustration about crime and antisocial behaviour in the town retail precinct," he said.

"The most troubling aspect is the constant fear of assault retail workers have, whether they be minor or major assaults."