NSW: New flying squads to dampen crime hotspots

AAP General News (Australia)
08-20-1999
NSW: New flying squads to dampen crime hotspots

MURWILLUMBAH, NSW, Aug 20 AAP - The New South Wales north coast will be the first region in
the state to get a special police flying squad dedicated to cleaning up crime hotspots,
Premier Bob Carr said today.

At Murwillumbah for a cabinet meeting, Mr Carr said the first of the 11 regional squads
would be based in the Northern Region Police Command at the end of the year.

He said the flying squads or special strike forces would "hit an area" within the region
where crime was at its worst.

"They will get a result and move out," Mr Carr told journalists.

"So any crime problem, it might be a blowout in car theft or some other category of crime,
we'll have the capacity to bring in a concentrated police presence to get a result.

"It's flexibility and mobility in policing."

Police Minister Paul Whelan said the total strength of the flying squads would be about 400
and was part of the commitment to increase police numbers across the state by 2,110.

The other regions would get their flying squads over the next 12 months.

He said the respective strengths of the flying squads would depend upon crime statistics
per region.

The government today also announced that the state's Firearms Registry would move to the
north coast.

The move was expected to provide up to 50 new jobs.

AAP ch/kr/br

KEYWORD: POLICE SQUAD LEAD

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