Three Hunter Region police districts are set to have positions created for officers focused solely on crime related to elderly people, those sleeping rough and people living with a disability.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
NSW Police began rolling out the specialist positions last year with six postings - the state government plans to have at least one Aged Crime Prevention Officer in every police district and command in NSW by 2023.
Six new positions will be created across NSW this coming financial year. Three of those will be in the Hunter Region.
Assistant Commissioner Max Mitchell told the Newcastle Herald funding for positions at Newcastle City, Lake Macquarie and Port Stephens-Hunter police districts would be released in July.
Assistant Commissioner Mitchell, who has been a driving force behind the roll-out, said the positions would also deal with issues facing people who are homeless and those living with a disability.
"A lot of the work is wrapped around crime prevention and so when we look at our ageing community we know there's a lot of physical harm, psychological harm, financial harm and also neglect," he said.
"What we believe is there are many of our elderly Australians who are the victim of a crime - particularly crimes such as domestic violence - and they have no course to be able to follow, no support. And for many of them, they probably don't understand how to go about reporting a crime.
"Part of our concern is always that we don't want our ageing society to be neglected."
NSW Police Minister David Elliott announced last month that 250 extra police positions would be added to the ranks across the state in 2020/21 as part of a 1500-strong rollout confirmed in late 2018.
The three other Aged Crime Prevention Officer jobs starting in 2020/21 will be at Coffs-Clarence, Wollongong and Orana police districts.
"It's not just about investigating crime, importantly it's about preventing crime occurring - whether it's for the aged, those with a disability or homelessness," Assistant Commissioner Mitchell said.
"I don't think we have great data, not only within NSW Police but I think in general across government agencies, we don't have terrific data in regard to where victimisation of our elderly and disabled is occurring."
While you're with us, did you know the Newcastle Herald offers breaking news alerts, daily email newsletters and more? Keep up to date with all the local news - sign up here
- Prisoners riot at Cessnock jail, lock themselves in rooms
- Newcastle Rugby League competitions won't proceed in 2020 without crowds
- Hunter families' healthy caution about returning to school
- Woman, 71, suffers head injury in alleged domestic incident at Nelson Bay
- Riding high: we're back on our bikes and business is booming
- How COVID-19 has shown we can deal with homelessness