The station's officer in charge, Sergeant Donna Hofmeier, said about 40 police based at Gungahlin's Joint Emergency Services Command were tasked with monitoring one of the most rapidly growing regions in Australia.

The northside area's population doubled in a decade to reach 40,900 in 2011 and is projected to hit 72,900 by 2021.

"Effectively Gungahlin is the fastest-growing epicentre in the southern hemisphere. You just have to drive around here now to see the growth in the buildings and out in the suburbs," Sergeant Hofmeier said.

The command takes in Hall and some of Canberra's newest suburbs close to the NSW border in the north and stretches south to the more established inner-north enclaves of Downer and Dickson.

Fledgling suburban regions often didn't experience the same crime trends as the inner city but presented their own challenges, Sergeant Hofmeier said.

"I'd say Gungahlin is like Tuggeranong was many, many years ago," she said.

"It's a new community, it's a dynamic community, there are young families in here.

"So there's not a lot of youth crime, because there's only young kids and they're not at that stage, and a lot of our youth here are fairly well behaved."

The area experienced a high rate of building site thefts in the past and a district intelligence officer now co-ordinated information on sites that were targeted regularly, she said.

Police had pushed a preventative approach with the region's builders, encouraging them to lock their sites and put equipment away.

New infrastructure potentially headed to the area, including higher-density housing, public service office buildings, and light rail would contribute to the area's growth and create more work for police, she said.

"With growth will come more crime because there are more people."

Police would watch the impact the new light rail system on Queensland's Gold Coast had on crime rates in case Canberra's proposed light rail network, which would operate between Civic and Gungahlin, went ahead, she said.

ACT Policing acknowledged in its annual report the extra demand the capital's new and emerging northside suburbs, such as Crace, Casey, Bonner and Jacka, placed on police resources.

It also identified pressure from growth areas in other parts of the territory, including Lawson, Wright, Coombs and Beard.

"Our footprint in terms of our interface with the public and our policing presence will be required to change and adapt as Canberra continues to grow and develop," the report said.

Part of those adaptations could mean a change to the way police operate in Gungahlin, especially because Sergeant Hofmeier said emergency personnel had obviously outgrown their complex.

The centre, which also houses firefighters and paramedics, was upgraded last year after crowded and unworkable conditions sparked calls for a stand-alone police station to cater to the needs of the area's growing population.

"We have our challenges, especially when we have a changeover of shift," Sergeant Hofmeier said.

It was often a struggle for police officers to find enough room to do their paperwork, she said.

"Last year we had renovations done on it and it's 100 per cent better than it was, but we obviously need to look at some more options, and that's recognised by all."

The ACT government allocated $450,000 in this year's budget to examine future use of the joint facility, with a study expected to be completed in the first half of next year.

A spokesman for Police and Emergency Services Minister Simon Corbell said the money would be used to

Australian Federal Police Association chief executive Dennis Gellatly said the region's police presence would need to expand to about 60 officers if it was to handle the projected population growth.

"As Gungahlin grows to the size of Belconnen or Tuggeranong it will need 20-odd more members - that's uniformed police on the ground."

Mr Gellatly acknowledged the recent renovations had eased pressure on the site, but said more would need to be done if police were to cope with increased demand on services.

"If they're looking at accommodating for the future, that's a good thing."