The police association have called for more police officers in Dubbo and Wellington to tackle the ‘ice epidemic’.
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The latest Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research showed drug offence incidents in the Dubbo Local Government area were up by 30.8 per cent per year since June 2017.
Police Association representative Greg Good said they were calling for 26 positions because “every police officer” knew how pervasive ice had become.
“It dominates our work, it has links to domestic violence, mental health incidents, road fatalities, youth crime, house and business break-ins, organised crime and it is destroying lives,” Mr Good said.
“Local police are so stretched that they’re drowning, just dealing with the symptoms of ice and users rather than focusing their efforts on the supply chain.
“All we can do at the moment is mop up the problems, rather than getting to the root of the issue and stopping the drugs before they hit out streets.”
Mr Good said they were also calling for an extra 18 Regional Enforcement Squad police who detect and disrupt suppliers and manufacturers.
At a recent announcement of airport funding in Narromine NSW Police Minister and Member for Dubbo Troy Grant said the ice epidemic was the greatest law enforcement and social issue facing regional NSW.
“The impacts of it is devastating, so it’s not a policing issue on its own, there’s a policing component and it certainly going after the suppliers and manufactures, and I do believe we need to do more there, absolutely,” he said.
“We’re considering a couple of proposals being developed at the moment to go hard after those manufacturers and suppliers.
“But what the community are also telling us is that they want support services for the users, so rehab, counselling, other support to wrap around those who've fallen foul of ice, and other drug addictions.
“We're also looking at what additional investment on top of the millions we have already invested can be made, especially in regional NSW.”