NSW bush victims call for more 24-hour police stations as crims run amok
A 84-year-old man stabbed getting out of his car; a 78-year-old woman bashed into a door during a home invasion: These are the people from the bush calling for more action on regional crime.
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An epidemic of stabbings, carjackings and home robberies across regional NSW have left towns crying out for more 24-hour police stations and an urgent review into regional crime.
New analysis of NSW Police data shows that only 14 per cent of all police stations in regional areas are staffed 24 hours a day, while 90 per cent are staffed round the clock in metropolitan areas.
Break and enters of homes in regional areas exceeded Sydney by 115 per cent over the past five years, while motor theft in the bush was double the rate in the city, according to the Bureau of Crime Statistics.
Non-domestic violence-related assaults and motor thefts in the bush increased by nearly 15 per cent in that time.
Of the 328 police stations in regional NSW, around 150 are staffed by only one officer.
Residents and mayors say an absence of 24-hour policing has emboldened criminals, who plan their attacks when there are no police in town and cops need to drive from the nearest staffed police station, sometimes taking more than an hour.
Locals are calling on Police Minister Yasmin Catley and Police Commissioner Karen Webb to do more to protect regional communities, with one victim accusing Ms Catley of “ignoring” people in the bush.
Dubbo man Mike, 84, was stabbed five times while getting out of his car in front of his home by a youth demanding money.
The youth who covered his face with a red skivvie stabbed Mike multiple times with a 300 millimetre serrated blade with two large prongs on the top.
“I got out of the car and he was right there, he kept demanding money and he lunged at me, he stabbed me halfway between my armpit and my hip,” Mike said.
“I honestly can’t remember him leaving – I could see the blood oozing out of my forearm.
“I was wearing shorts and I thought my leg was wet, then when I looked down I was covered in blood.”
Earlier this month, a 78-year-old Gunnedah woman who lives alone woke to three youths robbing her home at 1am, one of whom she thought was as young as 10.
When she got up to investigate, one invader smashed a door into her face, breaking her nose, before throwing her onto the floor.
She pretended the “play dead” but then feared that if they thought she was unconscious they would do worse things to her.
“I will never forgive the people who have done this,” she said.
Gunnedah’s Anglican Minister Simon Waller and his wife Jenny suffered three break-and-enters in their home and church over two years.
The first time, Ms Waller woke in her bed to a man in a balaclava shining a torch in her eyes.
The next two break-ins occurred earlier this year, with youth breaking into the church.
After the third break-in, Mr Waller wrote to the Police Minister about how bad crime levels in Gunnedah had become, but he never received a response.
“I related to her the experience of some of my wife’s colleagues who are single women living by themselves who were threatened with weapons, including our own experience,” he said.
“Then I heard the comments she made in the media that a review into regional crime would be nothing but a ‘talkfest’.
“It’s disgusting to not even bother replying, we’re just being ignored.”
The Country Mayors Association (CMA), a group of 87 regional mayors, has called on the government for a parliamentary inquiry into regional crime, to work out how limited police resources can be better used to protect people in the bush.
The government has refused to implement a review, with Ms Catley labelling it “a talkfest” in budget estimates last Friday.
After a snap visit to Moree last week, Premier Chris Minns said he would come up with a “comprehensive plan” to tackle regional crime but did not want an inquiry.
“I’ve charged the Premier’s Department with working through that and we’ll have more to say soon,” Mr Minns said.
“What we do know is that the status quo is not working.”
Ms Catley said she knew there were “real fears and issues around crime in our regions and NSW Police are doing everything they can to address this”.
“We know we need more recruits on the ground, that’s why we announced we’ll pay recruits to study.”
CMA chair and Gunnedah Mayor Jamie Chaffey said the mayors were “aghast” the government was not interested in an inquiry.
He said he had one meeting with the Police Minister and that she had “indicated in her own way, without any detail, that the government had it under control, but nothing has been done.
“The current government have been in power long enough to have tried to make a difference,” he said.
NSW Police union boss Kevin Morton agreed there needed to be an inquiry into policing in regional NSW.
He said that while officers would love for there to be 24-hour policing at every station, isolation and limited police resources made it difficult, but added that an inquiry into how better to disperse resources throughout the regions could only be a good thing.
“Policing in regional and metro areas are vastly different in terms of available resources and back-up,” he said.
“In the regions, if an officer attends an incident and back-up is coming from further away – it can be very stressful for our officers.”
A NSW Police spokesperson said the regional station operating model is “based around service demand and community need”.
EDITORIAL: CRIMINAL LACK OF POLICE IN THE BUSH
Towns across regional NSW all have their distinctive characters.
Some are tourism-based, offering sightseeing and dining possibilities. Some equally fascinating locations thrive on agriculture and industry. Still others offer historic insights.
Sadly, however, there is another category of NSW regional towns — those with growing crime problems and no political will to deal with them.
As The Daily Telegraph reports, a worrying upswing in stabbings, carjackings and home robberies across regional NSW has towns demanding additional 24-hour police stations. There are also increasingly urgent calls for a deep review into regional crime, and associated issues of police availability.
Regional residents and councils have looked on in alarm as criminal elements, emboldened in far too many locations by a reduced 24/7 police presence, time their mayhem to avoid reprisals.
Premier Chris Minns opposes a review, but admits following a visit to Moree last week that the current situation in rural towns is not welcome or sustainable.
“What we do know is that the status quo is not working,” Minns said. So change it. More police would be a very good start.
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