Increased interactions on road safety
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Across the state Operation Merrett will see police maintain a higher visibility in our streets in a bid to contain traffic-related risks, all in an effort to reduce the state road toll which sits higher than last year’s.
Tenterfield Police Sergeant James Boaden said all police have been tasked to increase their interactions with the public, undertaking enforcement and education of road rules and to increase community awareness and acknowledgement of the police role in promoting road safety.
Unsafe driving practices will be targetted, such a speed, unsafe overtaking and cornering especially given Tenterfield’s many narrow streets.
Fortunately of the 600 breath tests conducted by local police over the Easter holidays, none came back positive.
Drug offences
Last week a French backpacker’s car was stopped in Railway Street and a small quantity of cannabis was discovered. The driver was issued with a Cannabis Cautionary Notice, part of a program to divert those with no record of drug possession from the courts.
The French national told police he was heading back to Stanthorpe from the Byron Bay Blues festival when he missed the turn onto the New England Highway.
The 52-year-old Jennings man charged (along with his partner) after a small amount of cannabis was seized on March 29 is not eligible for a Cannabis Cautionary Notice as he was already on bail for an earlier drug-related matter.
Similarly a 55-year-old man whose vehicle was stopped and searched in Whereat Lane uncovering a stick of cannabis in the ute tray will face Tenterfield Court on April 22 due to his history.
Drink driving
Over the past fortnight Tenterfield Police have issued two Prescribed Concentration of Alcohol (PCA) charges for drink driving: one for a mid-range finding for a Glen Innes-based man, and the other a low-range PCA for a local driver found on foot following a single vehicle accident on Mt Mackenzie Rd.
Domestic violence checks
Sergeant Boaden said ongoing AVO (Apprehended Violence Order) checks where local police interact with higher-risk domestic violence offenders and their victims to ensure order conditions are being met is correlating with a pleasing reduction in cases.
