Police have charged nine people and seized six knives during a high visibility operation in the Orange CBD area last Thursday. Operation Ares is a high-visibility operation in which officers used handheld scanners – electronic metal-detecting ‘wands’ – to reduce knife crime and boost community safety. Between 12pm and 7pm Central West Police District officers, with the assistance from Orana Mid-Western Police District and Chifley Police District, carried out a knife-scanning operation in the Orange CBD. During the operation 259 people were stopped and scanned, and six knives were detected and seized. Two person-searches were also conducted and three drug detections were made. In total nine people were arrested and charged for offences including drug and knife possession. Operation Ares will continue to run in various areas across NSW. Pilot dies in crash near Tottenham An investigation is underway after a recreational aircraft crashed near Tottenham, killing its pilot on Monday afternoon. Officers attached to Central West Police District were called to Meadowview Road near Tottenham, about 140km north-west of Parkes, about 3.40pm when the aircraft was found crashed in a paddock. The 48-year-old pilot, a local man to the area, died in the crash, NSW Police said in a statement issued to media on Monday night. A report will be prepared for the information of the Coroner, while an investigation into the crash is being conducted by Recreational Aircraft Australia.
