Sergeant Steve Hart has brought his years of experience as a police officer to the local area as the head of the Local Policing Team (LPT) that looks after the three suburbs, managing a team of five constables to target trouble spots.
LPTs work with the community through community engagement and the use of intelligence.
Sgt Hart has worked in specialist crime, major incident and response units, as well as Regional Operations Group throughout his career and believes it’s possible to reduce crime in an area by interacting with the community and getting to know local offenders.
“Because you have a smaller area, you can get to know your patch really well,” Sgt Hart said.
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READ NOW“You know the local people and they know you, which allows you to build trust with each other. You can reduce demand before a crime happens.”
He said the use of methamphetamine was a major concern all over the State and that members of his team would find the drug at a routine traffic stop about every second day.
LPTs also conduct inquiries on local incidents and respond to crimes as they occur in the area. They serve warrants and violence restraining orders as well as doing curfew checks. Sgt Hart said prioritising resources and time management was the key to running the team smoothly.