NONE of the state’s 202 newest police officers have been posted to the Tweed Byron district, Tweed MP Geoff Provest urged residents not to be alarmed.
He fended off attacks from federal Richmond MP Justine Elliot and her state Labor colleague Walt Secord about the failure to secure a single graduating officer to the local area, saying it was more senior police and resources the region really needed.
Mr Secord and Ms Elliot said the North Coast was being short-changed by the Nationals when it came to police numbers, and residents deserved to know why most of the graduating police were being posted to Sydney when the Tweed Byron Local Area Command got nothing.
But Mr Provest said his constant negotiations with the Police Association had urged him to push for strength at more senior levels and more resources, not just the probationary constables.
More custody officers and extra police cars were among the resources he would be lobbying for when he met with Police Minister Michael Gallacher this week.
And he hinted that an announcement for a new police station in the region was only weeks away.
“Our crime rate is 50 per cent down on what it was last year so our police are doing an excellent job,” Mr Provest said.
“I am a big believer in following what the senior police ask for and they tell me the issues in Byron and Tweed need more of the experienced officers to direct the junior officers and that is what I am pushing for.”
