MURRUMBIDGEE Police District Commander, Superintendent Craig Ireland is open to conducing a review into whether or not Leeton needs a 24-hour manned police station.
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Calls for a 24-hour station in town have grown in recent weeks following a ram raid at the Leeton Soldiers Club, with Member for Murray Helen Dalton also calling on the state's police minister to come to town and discuss this idea.
"The message I want to get out there is that in Leeton, we aren't relying on officers to be coming across from Griffith to incidents outside of the hours being worked in Leeton ... we always have police on call in Leeton," Superintendent Ireland said.
"So, if something does happen, they will respond to that call.
"Dispatching a car from Griffith, officers aren't necessarily available as they might already be at another call.
IN OTHER NEWS:
"It's not correct to say we have officers coming across from Griffith to Leeton at those times because we have our call out system in place to respond around the clock.
"I do intend to undertake a comprehensive review of all the incident data, frequency of call outs and nature of the jobs that police attend after the operating hours (in Leeton) just to see if there is any validity in considering expanding to 24-hour operations.
"I'll have a close look and see if it warrants it."
Last week Mrs Dalton said she believed the amount of robberies in Leeton shire had increased in recent years, saying the minister needs to come to town to hear from affected residents.
While robberies do occur, the actual number of incidents is relatively low for a town the size of Leeton.
I do intend to undertake a comprehensive review of all the incident data, frequency of call outs and nature of the jobs that police attend after the operating hours (in Leeton) just to see if there is any validity in considering expanding to 24-hour operations.
- Superintendent Craig Ireland
According to the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, there was one robbery in 2015, three in 2016, two in 2017, two in 2018, three in 2019 and two last year.
Superintendent Ireland said driving these numbers down, as well as others in crime categories across the board was a continued focus for Leeton police.