Member for Northern Tablelands, Adam Marshall, attended a meeting with community members last week to discuss the concerns. 

“They are worried about petty crimes and the rise of anti-social behaviour,” Mr Marshall said.

“Because there isn’t a permanent officer, people that couldn’t get away with things before, know that they can now,” he said.

The issue has been raised with Barwon Local Area Commander, Superintendent Gelina Talbot.

Supt Talbot said, the vacant ‘lock-up keeper’ position at Garah was being recruited. 

“Advertisements are state-wide and the most recent advertisement unfortunately did not attract any interest,” she said.

The position will continue to be advertised until filled. 

In the meantime, Garah and surrounds will continue to be serviced by officers from Moree, Mungindi and Boomi in addition to patrols by rural crime investigators and highway patrol. 

Traffic and Highway Patrol Command, Sergeant Mark Lyon, said all roads within the command were regularly patrolled by officers. 

“Local traffic committees work closely with police to monitor issues in villages as well as the major centres,” Sgt Lyon said.

Supt Talbot said Garah was still subject of police tasking based on community calls for service and intelligence-based tasking. 

“Unfortunately low levels of reporting from the rural sector means an accurate picture of when and what is happening is hard to obtain,” she said.

This coupled with remoteness of localities makes it difficult for both victims and police to identify time frames for offences.

“Locals are always the best ones to go to for information as they are aware of who should or should not be in the area. 

“Information on suspicious vehicles and/or persons is important in gaining a picture of who is in our community,” she said.

Despite these difficulties police encourage residents to provide them with as much information as possible. 

“If it is not reported, it is impossible for us to identify crime trends, link offences or provide additional patrols,” Supt Talbot said.