Minister says no to increased policing hours at Forbes

There are no plans to change the manned hours at Forbes Police Station, the NSW Police Minister has said in a formal response to a 2760-strong petition for an increased and 24-hour police presence in the town. Forbes has 24-hour police coverage through on-call officers and response from Parkes Police Station, Minister Yasmin Catley said in the letter, published in response to the Forbes petition presented to Parliament by local MP Philip Donato. But Forbes Mayor Phyllis Miller says she'll continue to advocate for change. "That’s not how the system’s working in rural regional areas," she said. "We do not have the luxury of being five minutes away from a police officer. "So you can’t just decide that the system’s great, you need to start to have a look at where the cracks are in the system and that’s all we’re asking the minister to do." One of the issues Mayor Miller is hearing locally is phone calls not being answered. "How can you have statistics when the phone’s not being answered and you’re getting no response?" Mayor Miller said. "That’s not working." Mr Donato said he understood the minister's response would be met with disappointment - and that it did not meet reasonable expectations of many locals. Mayor Miller and Mr Donato are both urging community members to ensure every crime is reported. "Given that police resourcing and deployments are driven and directed by statistics and crime data, I strongly encourage all Forbes locals to contact police where appropriate, and make reports," Mr Donato said. "If police do not respond in a reasonably timely manner, contact my office - and I will promptly follow this up." In the letter, Minister Catley said allocations of police officers were based on operational requirements. “The current tasking and deployment model provides for an efficient use of available resources and aims to ensure that there are an adequate number of police officers to meet demand within all PACs and PDs,” she said. Ms Catley assured the community that police from other areas of the Central West Police District, which are staffed 24 hours a day, could respond to incidents in Forbes depending on the urgency. “I am further advised that staffing at any particular police station can fluctuate daily in response to crime trends and other intelligence-led operational requirements,” Ms Catley’s written response said. “All police positions attached to Police Area Commands or PDs are flexible resources available to support the community and respond to incidents across the PAC/PD. “Local resources are supplemented by specialist police (highway patrol, major crime squads, covert resources etc) who are managed centrally but can be deployed across boundaries to meet the changing community needs and respond to changing crime patterns and emerging issues.” The petition, created and circulated by Neighbourhood Watch, acknowledged that local police were doing their utmost to prevent and fight crime, but called for more resources. "I am sure you all will agree that the men and women in blue on the front line do a fantastic job despite being overworked and under-resourced - we truly appreciate them," Mr Donato added.

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