THE Tamworth branch of the police union will push for custody sergeant as well as two dozen more uniformed officers as it fights for a share of the new round of 1500 officers.
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Newly-installed Tamworth police association (PANSW) chair Brian Pegus said the branch was “very optimistic” and wanted “as many as we can” after the government announced the extra police over four years.
“We have a very high custody role here, and that is something we would like to try and achieve the custody sergeant,” he said on Wednesday.
“Tamworth does have [crime] issues and we need to address them.”
In its campaign, the Tamworth branch had been pushing for at least 25 new police for the area including 10 extra uniformed general duties staff, 10 more proactive police to target known offenders and prevent and disrupt crime as well as custody managers and investigators to manage those on the child protection register (CPR).
The government’s announcement on Tuesday also puts an officer in every district to monitor those on the CPR.
“Now we've got a dedicated officer to look at those people doing the wrong thing with children ad we really welcome that, and also with those positions with the elder abuse unit,” Tamworth-based PANSW executive member Mick Buko said.
In the Tamworth area, police have to monitor about 80 registered sex offenders.
The Leader revealed in 2017 Tamworth Police Station saw 1692 custodies in 2016 – 464 more than Macquarie Fields in Sydney.
The new positions are expected to be known by next year.
READ MORE:
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- PANSW say there’s not enough police to monitor sex offenders in region
- Rivals join in call for more Tamworth police infrastructure
- More boots in blue: plea to back the force’s blue line
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“Of that 1500, it's to the drawing board for the commissioner to have a working party and work out where he's going to put the numbers, I would like to hope and think regional NSW is going to be looked after because we're struggling, so it would be good news,” Mr Buko said.
“It's been a long time coming, the drip feeding of numbers has kept us kicking along over the years but we really needed this big injection.”
Tamworth MP Kevin Anderson said the police commissioner will determine where the 1500 new positions are allocated but “the focus will be on proactive and high visibility policing”.
“As part of the announcement I was delighted to see that police will now have greater capability to keep a watchful eye on known offenders against children and our elderly will be better protected from abuse,” he said.
“We will be ready to accept new police especially in Gunnedah as we prepare to open the brand new $8m state of art police station and I am working with the local Oxley Police District on an internal re fit of the Tamworth police station to create more space.”
Breanna Chillingworth
Northern Daily Leader Senior Crime and Court Reporter
Northern Daily Leader Senior Crime and Court Reporter
