Wellington's residents and business owners have expressed concern after the injury of a police officer during a pursuit and the shooting of a local man during a home invasion.
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Business owners Rod and Allison Irwin have been broken into in the last six months, and talked about what they'd like to see change during a recent meeting with local police, Deputy Premier John Barilaro MP and Police Minister Troy Grant MP.
"It is worrying. It makes you wonder what sort of people we've got here in our community," Mr Irwin said.
"I think one of the things that Inspector Skelly brought up which is quite real is that 'okay, there's people out there with guns, y'know, which obviously are unregistered," Ms Irwin said.
"That's right, they need powers to go in and search these premises and search them well," Mr Irwin said.
One local resident called the crime, 'completely ghastly' while another expressed concern that the incident could have been drug related.
"It’s pretty obvious that the victim was targeted. It does concern me when Wellington is a small community and I have a young family. We only live a few blocks away."
Business owner Michael White, who has had his business broken into countless times over the years, said that a plan of having a persistent patrol car in radio contact with Dubbo appealed to him.
"I think we're on an even plain at the moment, but, we've got to be on high alert, because it's a revolving door at the jail."
"We need a police presence in Wellington for 24 hours, but if we could have a car patrolling all night, in radio contact with Dubbo, that'd soon have all this cleaned up."
Another resident used the opportunity to push the often touted 24 hour police station proposal.
"This is why 24 hour police is needed. There has been shootings in the past. The community has the right to feel safe."