In its most recent meeting, the Braidwood Branch of Country Labor considered the nuisance behaviour, vandalism, petty theft and serious property crime occurring in our community. Members, along with others in the community, recognise that we are dealing with a range of offenders, of various ages and culpability. For some behaviour, police involvement is needed.
The Braidwood Branch has written to the NSW Police Minister, Paul Whelan, to alert him to the problem in our town, and to request a more consistent police presence and a need for a third officer to be stationed in the community. On those occasions when police are needed, the first point of contact often turns out to be Queanbeyan, so attendance at crime scenes by police is often delayed.
At the same time, the Branch acknowledges that some of the behaviour of young people in the town is not really a policing matter, and supports efforts such as that made by the Child and Family Resources Committee to set up discussions with police liaison people and the Health Service youth development and advocacy officer, in order to seek appropriate solutions to the problem.
Email a friend