The Thin Blue Line

I joined the Police Force 22 years ago. I joined because I wanted to make a difference to the community; I wanted to help make our streets safe.

I came into the job knowing that it was never going to be easy, and I love it for exactly that reason. I knew there would be times when I’d have things thrown at me, get yelled at, and find myself in dangerous situations. I accepted that before I signed up.

What I can’t accept however is that my life, and the lives of my fellow officers and the community we look after, is put at increased risk simply because we don’t have enough police on the ground.

We need more police in the Tweed region, the region I work in – there is absolutely no question about that. Youth crime in on the rise in the area, and has been for quite some time. It’s even got to the point where residents are scared to leave their homes for fear of attacks.

It’s my job to protect these people, to keep our streets safe. My fellow officers and I are doing whatever we can to do just that, but without the support of extra police we’re fighting an uphill battle.

When I walk down the street I’m constantly asked by local residents why nothing seems to be being done to address the rising crime levels, why we can’t get more police in the area. I can’t give them an answer because I don’t know; I doesn’t make sense to me either.

The NSW Government has said that we’ve got enough police in the area. They’ve even said that we’re over strength in some instances. Try telling that to the families of people bashed by gangs. Try telling that to the officers getting spat at and kicked on a daily basis.

Government figures mean nothing to me, and they mean nothing to the local community. What I care about is getting home to my family safe after each shift, and keeping the local community safe.

It hurts to know we could do our job better if we had more police on the frontline. The residents of our community shouldn’t feel threatened or scared when they leave their houses, and police shouldn’t feel as though they don’t have adequate back up when they need it.

We can deal with the problem – we just need the government to give us a break. They need to stop thinking about the bottom line and start thinking about the safety of the community. I know it’s not just our region either – you hear stories from all over the state of police and communities facing the same problems.

Community safety has got to start being made a priority, not just in the Tweed, but throughout the state.