MP spends night on the front line

THOMAS GEORGE spent an 'eye-opening' night with officers from the Richmond Local Area Command on Friday.

THOMAS GEORGE won’t be swapping politics for a career as a police officer any time soon, but he spent an ‘eye-opening’ night with officers from the Richmond Local Area Command on Friday.

“I stayed out with them until 2.20am,” the Lismore MP said.

“I would have stayed longer but it was really busy and I didn’t want to be in their road.”

Amongst the jobs Mr George and the police officers attended included a bashing, a person with mental health problems and someone throwing rocks on a roof.

“The night was a real eye-opener,” he said.

“I soon understood the need for more police out on the beat.

“We had a situation where a car needed to go to an incident in one town, but the closest car was in another town 30km away.

“So I saw first-hand that these guys are very short handed, even though there were four cars were on duty that night.

“Now I can understand why it takes police a while to get to certain jobs.

“If a call comes through for a code red, everything changes.

“I’ve been critical of police in the past in terms of not letting people know if they’re running late for a job.

“But let me tell you, in the heat of the moment, they just do what they have to do in a crisis.

“Our police officers do a great job; a top job.”

“I would have gone back out on Saturday night if I could have.”

Originally published as MP spends night on the front line