He’s the man charged with policing the NSW bush and the new deputy police commissioner got straight to work in Tamworth.
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Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys touched down in Tamworth on Thursday – hours after the announcement of his appointment – and went straight into meet his troops.
He will be responsible for 5,000 officers based across regional NSW but says more are on the way.
“Already we had a discussion [on Thursday] here with the local police and of course we can't promise anything here [on Friday] but I think the future is bright for country NSW, in particular here we acknowledge that Tamworth is a very busy place and has it's uniqueness like all country areas do,” the new Deputy Commissioner for Regional NSW told media.
“What we need to do now is to listen to what the people have to say and address some of the priorities and focus on that and I think at this point we can do a much better job with those 5,000 police.”
He said his job will be to listen to the community as well as police and strike the right balance.
“I look forward to what they tell me and to try and bring a different policing service to country NSW, one that the community will not only enjoy, but be part of,” Deputy Commissioner Worboys said.
He will lead a taskforce in two weeks to look at re-engineering the force’s model to police country areas.
As for his long-term priorities, Deputy Commissioner Worboys said tackling ice in regional communities was one of his biggest tasks.
“It's always on on my mind about the difference between remote, rural and regional NSW and making sure we forget no one as we go through this re-engineering process,” he told media.
“We've spoken a lot about ice here today but there is no doubt that rural crime and the prevention of rural crime is something I am going to have to have a good look at.”
When questioned about tackling violent offenders, following a recent incident in Glen Innes, as well as group in Moree taking charge of keeping an eye on the streets at night, Deputy Commissioner Worboys said there was work to be done.
“I really feel it's not about telling them too much at all at this time,” he said.
“I look forward to going over to Moree and sitting down with those people and the local police, looking at what the problems are and coming up with some solutions both in the short term and the long term.”
Deputy Commissioner Worboys was the Assistant Commissioner for Southern NSW previously and said his drug work is something he wants to spread across the bush.
“There is no doubt that ice is a problem whether the community is small or large or in-between,” he said.
“I've had great success in southern region in operations that target the mid-level supply of drugs and we'll be concentrating on that right across NSW.”
He said the ice epidemic was something that police would need to work together with other agencies to combat.
“Already I've said police are doing a fantastic job, what we need to do in terms of the ice and the drug issues is to not only look at the mid-level suppliers but also attack it from a different angle and look at some educational programs with our PCYC and our youth officers and other agencies aswell,” Deputy Commissioner Worboys said.