THE region of Broken Hill has been busy the last few months, with numerous large events attracting locals and tourists alike, and local police aiming to work with the community to prevent opportunistic crime.
Barrier Command’s Acting Inspector Matt Sipple said “the town has seen some big events come through, like the Mundi Mundi Bash and Broken Hill Festival, which have brought positive interactions to the town and for the police as far as our operations around those events”.
Insp Sipple explained that some of the best work the community can do to lower crime rates is to make it harder for opportunistic crime to occur.
“The classic example is, you know, we leave the car out the front and we forget to lock the door which does happen. People come along and try those doors and it’s easy,” he said.
“And before we know it, there’s a little spike of those occurring.
“Whereas if we lock up, we make it hard for these people that take advantage of this situation, they don’t get access to that, and it doesn’t occur.
“The key word is opportunistic. People will take advantage of those situations. A lot of people carry laptops, phones – quite expensive technology and things like that, and that’s what these people target.”
Insp Sipple said the NSW Police were there to help and the community could help the police.
“We often ask for the community’s assistance, to reach out to us,” he said.
“They’re our eyes and ears out there.”
