BARWON police say a travelling roadshow encouraging locals to "Dob-in-a-Dealer" has already seen one raid on a home in just the first day.
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The "Dob-in-a-Dealer" initiative is a state-wide campaign aimed at mobilising members of the public in the fight against the drug ice, and landed in Moree at the markets on Sunday.
Just hours later, police made their first move, executing a search warrant on a home after a tip-off from the community.
"We have already had an engagement here at the Moree markets, which was very successful and as a result from that engagement we have conducted a search warrant as of [Sunday] afternoon, with a drug detection with charges pending," Detective Inspector David Silversides said.
"As far as the Dob-in-a-Dealer program here at Barwon LAC, it has been an immediate success already, and we are only a day into it."
The campaign will run across the Barwon command for two weeks with police and Crime Stoppers conducting several intensive community-engagement activities. And it's got the backing of the local council.
"I think it's a wonderful thing for our community. One of the best things about it is that people can do this with confidence that it will remain anonymous. One of the toughest things to do is dob in your neighbours or your friends or a family member," Mayor Katrina Humphries said.
"This gives people the opportunity. Possibly one of the most important decisions that they will ever make to changing their area and their community is to have the guts to dob in a dealer."
It has been an immediate success already, and we are only a day into it.
- Detective Inspector David Silversides
According to figures from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, the ice scourge is only getting worse, as possession rates soar across the state.
In the three years to September, 2015, arrests for amphetamine possession across NSW jumped by 75.3 per cent.
Locally, police and council are hoping the Dob-in-a-Dealer campaign will be enough for residents from Boggabri to Boggabilla and Moree to Narrabri to pick up the phone.
"It’s pretty tough to dob somone in, but we are pretty tough people in the bush, and we shouldn't shy away from it," Cr Humphries said.
"I would really encourage people to use this line and have dealers dobbed in, because they are a blight on our society, and they are the single biggest cause of our crime in town; the drug dealers and the drug users. So let's get in and clean the lot up."
And it's that information which could lead to further arrests.
The campaign will run until May 15.
