What is Victoria Police?
[[File:Victorian Police Motorcycle, Geelong, Aust, jjron, 30.9.2010.jpg|thumb|A Victoria Police officer on a motorbike]] '''Victoria Police''' provides [[police]] services to the people of [[Victoria, Australia]]. It employs more than 13,800 people and has 339 police stations.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.police.vic.gov.au/content.asp?Document_ID=3 |title=Victoria Police - About Victoria Police |first= |last= |work=police.vic.gov.au |date= 3 December 2009 |accessdate=20 February 2011}}</ref> Victoria Police started in the 1850s. One of their early jobs was to collect licence fees from miners searching for gold. In 1854 the miners at [[Ballarat, Victoria|Ballarat]] refused to pay the fee and built a defensive fort, known as the [[Eureka Stockade]]. A military force of the British Army and 94 policemen attacked the stockade.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.police.vic.gov.au/content.asp?Document_ID=314 |title=Victoria Police - Early years |first= |last= |work=police.vic.gov.au |year=2011 |accessdate=20 February 2011}}</ref> About 30 miners and four soldiers were killed. ==References== {{reflist}} {{stub}} [[Category:Victoria, Australia]] [[Category:Law enforcement agencies]] [[Category:Law enforcement in Australia]] [[Category:Government agencies of Australia]] [[Category:1850s establishments in Australia]]