Bush suffering from lack of 24-hour police stations amid crime wave, says former cop and MP Rod Roberts

Just 48 of 326 stations across regional NSW are manned 24-hours a day, according to new analysis.

Swathes of regional NSW are suffering from a lack of cops on the ground overnight, with just 48 of 326 stations across three major policing districts manned for 24 hours a day.

Analysis compiled by Independent NSW MP and 20-year police veteran, Rod Roberts, shows that in the Western Region of the state, 106 of 118 police stations are not manned 24 hours a day.

The Northern Region has just 24 stations open around the clock, with 70 more only staffed for part of the day, while the Southern Region has just 12 of its 114 stations manned 24 hours a day.

The analysis comes amid a soaring crime wave in the bush, with Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research showing assaults at bush schools reported to police have skyrocketed by 31 per cent, alongside jumps in motor vehicle theft, non-domestic assault, domestic violence and sexual assault.

Mr Roberts said “rural crime (is) out of control” and added the shortfall “falls firmly at the feet of the hierarchy”.

Cooma Police Station, which isn’t staffed 24 hours. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

He cited the death of Cooma great-grandmother Clare Nowland – who allegedly died after being tasered by police officer Kristian White, who was at home in bed when he received a call the 95-year-old was armed with a knife – as an example of a sizeable town which should have a 24-hour station.

Mr White has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter over her death.

“People only realise this with events like Clare Nowland at Cooma … who would have thought that station wouldn’t be 24 hours?” Mr Roberts said.

The sobering statistics come the day after the NSW Government announced a bold-new recruitment program targeting established police offices from interstate and New Zealand, in a bid to cover a shortfall of 1500 cops in the state.

A parallel scheme will also give police graduates a greater chance to return to their hometown or a nearby community in a bid to boost the police force in the bush.

While Mr Roberts supported the government for trying to plug the workforce gaps, he doubted the push to recruit Kiwis would be successful, citing the cost of living in Sydney compared to New Zealand, and said more investment had to be poured into recruitment.

NSW Independent MP Rod Roberts. Picture: NSW. OneNation

“Have you ever seen an ad in the paper, or on the TV, or on the radio that the police are seeking recruits?” he said.

“I’m not knocking the frontline police … These poor bastards are struggling out there, they get called out in the middle of the night … it’s incumbent on the Police Minister and commissioner – the ball is in their court, they need to do something about it.”

A spokeswoman for Police Minister Yasmin Catley – who spruiked the recruitment program on New Zealand radio on Wednesday – said “the recruitment schemes announced … will help drive up the number of cops”.

NSW Police officer Kristian White at Cooma Court. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Paul McIver

She added a campaign will be launched in New Zealand and interstate Australia to promote the new schemes.

“Police are overstretched and many are exhausted. They are understrength in many commands and we are 100 per cent committed to give them respite by getting more boots on the ground,” she said.

A NSW Police spokesman said each “regional police district provides a 24/7 policing response to all suburbs within the command or district”.

“Police stations in regional NSW have a range of operating hours including full 24/7 head stations and smaller sector stations with operating hours based around service demand and community need,” he said.