The Canobolas Local Area Command (LAC), which covers policing in Orange, will be merged with the Lachlan LAC as part of a NSW Police restructure.
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The merger will form the Central West district, however Cowra and Canowindra will join Bathurst’s Chifley district.
As part of the changes, 34 current LACs will become 26 police districts.
The restructure was announced by Police Commissioner Mick Fuller and Deputy Commissioner of Regional Field Operations Gary Worboys in Mudgee on Thursday.
Also merging will be the Orana and Mudgee LACs, which will form the Orana Mid-Western Police District.
The Cootamundra LAC will be split in two, with the north section joining Hume police district and the southern sector joining Wagga Wagga LAC to become Riverina police district.
However, Commissioner Fuller rejected suggestions the remodelling was just about mergers.
“We have been talking about the future of country policing and that’s all about capability. The region enforcement squads, the domestic violence, high-risk offender teams, the capabilities we see in metropolitan Sydney is what we want in country NSW,” he said.
“This is an exciting change for country NSW after 20 years of Local Area Commands, which was very much a metropolitan model.”
Deputy Commissioner Worboys said the new model was a reflection of the requests he got while undertaking consultation within police and regional communities.
He said there was a need for an officer at each station who was in charge, overseen by a district commander.
All existing police stations will be kept and there will be an officer-in-charge. For most there will also be a boost in the number of officers. Some administration positions will be cut.
Commissioner Fuller said exact police numbers for the new district were still being determined but said there would be more police on the ground.
“That’s a guarantee there will be more police. Yes there will be losses of admin positions and that is unfortunate but under this model we won’t need as many admin positions in the area,” he said.
“We will settle numbers in the next couple of weeks so within 14 days you will have a much clearer picture in terms of growth in regional NSW.
