New Norfolk criminals taking advantage of gaps in police presence to commit offences

Criminals in a rural Tassie town are taking advantage of a part time police presence, mayor says. Her fears have grown with the nearest major station set to temporarily relocate further away.

Labor MP Jen Butler, Labor leader Rebecca White and Derwent Valley mayor Michelle Dracoulis speak to the media at New Norfolk Police Station on Monday, January 22, 2024.

Criminals in New Norfolk have learned the police roster and are taking advantage of a part time presence to commit offences, the local mayor says.

Derwent Valley Major Michelle Dracoulis has called for a greater police presence around the clock — particularly when the nearest major police station at Bridgewater closes soon for renovations.

She fears that the even longer wait for police to respond from Glenorchy will worsen an existing trend.

“People are taking advantage of knowing when the police are and aren’t here,” she said.

Derwent Valley mayor Michelle Dracoulis speak to the media at New Norfolk Police Station on Monday, January 22, 2024.

“I actually live in the middle of New Norfolk myself, and you can tell when the police station is closed for the night because that’s when they kick off.

“They’re coming sideways around the corners, the yelling and carrying on, I get trees ripped out on a fairly regular basis out the front.

“And of course, the wagon will come through a couple of times a night, everything goes quiet for a little bit and then they kick off again.

“They’re quite aware of what and when we don’t have a presence in the area.”

Labor member for Lyons Jen Butler said New Norfolk’s crime problem would become worse if police response times increased.

She is calling on the government to station some of the Bridgewaters officers at New Norfolk during the renovations.

“We know that there are a lot of crimes that are committed in the late evening and early hours of the morning because we believe that criminals understand that there is a significant delay in police response time,” she said.

“We know there has been recent arson attacks, we know that there have been car burglaries, you know there have been home burglaries and we know that it has been an increase in anti-social behaviour.

“Police will have a delayed response time that will be coming from Glenorchy instead of coming from Bridgewater.

“What we know is that the people in the Derwent Valley have been calling out for a permanent police presence of many, many years.”

Premier Jeremy Rockliff said the government had boosted police numbers in the area.

“We’ve increased the police presence at Norfolk and very pleased to do so it’s been a $5 million investment in a new police station in recent times,” Mr Rockliff said.

“We’ve got record numbers of police being employed around the state and for the Labor Party to talk about police numbers is hypocritical frankly given the 108 police officers were sacked when last we had Labor in government.”

A Tasmania Police spokesperson said Tasmania had some of the lowest crime rates in the country, and was a very safe place to live, but there were a small number of people who did the wrong thing in communities.

“Recent data shows that there were 71 total offences in the Derwent Valley region in December 2023, down from a 12 month average of 81 total offences.

“The Derwent Valley recorded three stolen motor vehicles in December 2023, compared with a 12 month average of five stolen motor vehicles.

“A total of 42 public order incidents were recorded for December 2023 in the Derwent Valley region, slightly up from the 12 month average of 34.”

The spokesperson said New Norfolk Station had 14 officers, an increase of five police officers since 2014, and there was also one officer allocated to each of the nearby stations of Bushy Park, Hamilton, and Maydena.

“When New Norfolk members conclude duty or require additional resources, they are supported by police from Bridgewater Station, which operates 24/7,” the spokesperson said.

“In addition to support from Bridgewater, New Norfolk is also frequented by Road Policing Services, CIB and Taskforce Saturate.”

Police said in the past 12 months (December 1, 2022 to November 30, 2023) there had been 134 dispatch incidents recorded its emergency dispatch system for New Norfolk between 3am to 7am, which averages to just more than 11 dispatch incidents per month or 2.5 per week.

“We are committed to listening to our communities, which is why the proposal to temporarily move officers from the Bridgewater to New Norfolk station while the new Bridgewater Police Station is under construction is under active consideration,” the spokesperson said.

“Community members can help us address crime by reporting illegal and anti-social behaviour to police at any time of the day on 131 444, or triple-zero in an emergency.”