LOCAL residents and visitors to Port Macquarie have been warned to take it easy on the roads and behave themselves this October long weekend, with a special operation starting this evening and running through until Monday night.
Operation Slow Down, an annual state-wide traffic enforcement operation, starts at midnight and will run until 11.59pm on Monday night. Double demerits will be in place for speeding, seatbelt and motorcycle helmet offences.
Locally, all available Highway Patrol officers have been rostered on in addition to extra general duty officers to make sure that everyone obeys the law. Police will also be targeting fires on beaches because of the current high fire danger.
“The school holidays have started relatively well apart from a slight increase in anti-social behaviour on the beaches. and we want to make sure they continue that way,” Acting Inspector Ron Mudford said.
Three people lost their lives in NSW in the same long weekend last year, while 170 people were injured in 544 major crashes.
Meantime, police have also launched a new drug reporting campaign, only a week and a half after Port Macquarie police arrested three men after allegedly finding $900,000 worth of drugs and drug-manufacturing equipment at a business in Jindalee Road in the industrial area.
The campaign features a poster which identifies the seven tell-tale signs that indicate a house is being used for drug manufacturing. These include: strange odours emanating from the property, diverted electricity, chemical containers and waste, blacked-out windows, hoses and pipes in strange places, blinds down with bright indoor lighting and vehicles arriving at odd hours.
Police say many drug dens blend in and neighbours may have no idea what the house is being used for, such as the premises in Jindalee Road, which were occupied by a well-known local business.
Anyone with information about suspicious properties to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
