State Member for Wallsend, Ms Sonia Hornery MP, has called on the Police Minister to review the way allocations of new Police recruits are made after it was revealed that the Hunter would only receive 3 of the 257 recruits.
The latest Police graduates will see only one new recruit for Port Stephens Hunter, one for Newcastle City and one for Lake Macquarie Police Districts, only 1% of the total of new recruits.
Of the 257 new officers that will join the New South Wales Police Force, a staggering 83% of recruits will be stationed in Sydney with the rest of the State sharing the remaining 17%.
The Northern Region received a total of 6 new officers to cover the area from the Hawkesbury to the Queensland border.
Quotes attributable to Member for Wallsend, Sonia Hornery
“In the last 2 years a total of 1340 recruits graduated from the Goulburn Police Academy but the Hunter only received 14 of those recruits.”
“Less than 1% of the total recruits for an area that makes up a significant part of the State is nothing short of a slap in the face.”
“Only 3 new recruits for the whole of the Hunter shows that this Government continues to ignore our cries for more resources.”
“We have crime stats in our areas that are more than double or triple the State average, yet we get less than 1% of the new recruits.”
“If this is considered a fair distribution of new recruits then we need to look at the way recruits are allocated.”
“When I talk to local Police it is obvious they are understaffed and in desperate need of more feet on the ground.”
“More Police on the beat are needed. We deserve our fair share.”