IT WAS a crime that stunned the community and marked a watershed moment in the city’s fight against lawlessness.
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Days after one of his convenience stores was held up by a drug-crazed thief for a second time, Barry Bourne launched a petition demanding the state government provide a drug dog for the Oxley Local Area Command.
The petition was the tipping point in the debate, galvanising residents and prompting a 5000-signature document to be presented to parliament.
The wheels of bureaucracy turn slowly and six months after the petition was tabled, Tamworth was yesterday finally offered a glimmer of hope.
Flanked by senior police and confronting a media scrum, NSW Police Minister Stuart Ayres announced a one-month trial of a general-duties dog for the city.
While it’s hardly a cause for jubilation, it’s a welcome sign the government is listening to locals’ concerns.
From mid-September, a German shepherd and its handler will be stationed in Tamworth and tasked with sniffing out offenders across the command.
Make no mistake, the dog will be effective in tracking down those offenders.
However, concerns linger over the level of detail in the announcement.
While it may be true “crime doesn’t take a holiday”, if crooks read newspapers then they might be scared straight for much of mid-September to mid-October.
Drug crime accounts for an inordinate number of the offences that plague this command.
A specialist dog is not a silver-bullet solution. Nothing is. But it remains an invaluable tool in the police arsenal.
The pages of this newspaper are awash with stories of people like Barry Bourne, who through no fault of their own find themselves the victims of violent crime.
It is thus critical NSW Police looks closely at the results of the dog trial and considers building a permanent kennel here for the canine crimefighter.