A spike in the number of break and enters, cars stolen and thefts from vehicles in the past two weeks has been partly attributed to a shortage of police in Orange.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Member for Orange Phil Donato and Police Association Orange branch chair Adam Piffarelli said Orange urgently needed 14 more police officers.
On Monday Mr Donato said the lack of police was affecting the community.
“There has been a sharp rise in property crime in Orange over the past week,” he said.
“Not having enough officers to patrol our streets and keep us safe will see this disturbing trend continue.
“Orange has the lowest police to population ratio throughout NSW,” he said.
“The police are feeling neglected, they are feeling overworked and they need support.
“Put simply there are not enough feet on the beat.
“Orange needs a minimum, another additional 14 police officers stationed here, to keep their head above water.”
Mr Piffarelli said crime rates were rising with the warmer weather in Orange.
He said the rates were lower on nights when police could adequately patrol the city.
“There is definitely a flow-on effect when we have patrols on the street,” he said.
“We can see crime does not pop up on those nights.”
He said break and enters, the number of stolen cars and the number of thefts from vehicles have risen “definitely in the last two weeks.”
Mr Piffarelli said they would continue their campaign for more police by bringing it to the attention of the state government and police minister Troy Grant.
He said they wanted to avoid having to take industrial action including ‘work to rule’ where possible as it affected the community.
On Monday NSW Police released a list of crimes that had occurred in Orange in the past few days.
They included a fire being lit at the hockey centre on Moad Street between 11.15am and 11.30am on Sunday.
“A surface was damaged and appears to be deliberate,” the statement said.
Three mountain bikes were stolen from an Autumn Street property about 6.25pm on Sunday and two of them were returned soon after.
It said a tyre on a car parked on Avondale Drive between 7pm on Saturday night and 10.55am on Sunday was slashed while another vehicle on Kent Avenue had a hole cut in a tyre between 6pm on Saturday and 7.30am Sunday.
Meanwhile it said a wallet was stolen between 10.40pm and 11pm on Saturday at a licensed premises on Glenroi Avenue and cards were used fraudulently.
DO YOU WANT MORE ORANGE NEWS?
- Receive our free newsletters delivered to your inbox, as well as breaking news alerts. Sign up below …
David Fitzsimons
I am a senior journalist at the Central Western Daily concentrating on council, government and real estate issues. Before moving to Orange I filled senior roles at the Daily Telegraph, Daily Telegraph-Mirror and the Daily Mirror in Sydney. They included being an editor, news editor, chief of staff and reporter.
I am a senior journalist at the Central Western Daily concentrating on council, government and real estate issues. Before moving to Orange I filled senior roles at the Daily Telegraph, Daily Telegraph-Mirror and the Daily Mirror in Sydney. They included being an editor, news editor, chief of staff and reporter.
