The allocation of eight extra officers each to the Coffs Clarence and Richmond Police Area Commands will make the Clarence and Richmond Valleys even safer according to Clarence Nationals MP Chris Gulaptis.

“The NSW Government committed to a record 1500 extra police officers ahead of the recent State election, 450 have been allocated for this coming year and 16 for our local area proves we are getting our fair share,” Mr Gulaptis said.

Mr Gulaptis praised former Grafton detective and now head of the Police Association of NSW Tony King with whom he acted as a conduit to Government to help secure the biggest increase in NSW police numbers in thirty years.

“The Government deserves credit for agreeing to the extra cop demands put to them and today’s announcement is a case of the Government delivering on its election promises,” Mr Gulaptis said.

“Our hard working cops are already contributing to the lowest NSW crime rates in 20 years and this boost should make our communities even safer.”

In addition to extra officers assigned to Local Area Commands there will be more officers in   in specialist commands, including the Strategic Intelligence, Rural Crime and Cyber Crime Squads.

Mr Gulaptis said local police allocations were largely based on crime statistics so it is important that locals report all crime via the Police Assistance Line, Crime Stoppers or 000 in emergencies.