Moree police have had a busy couple of weeks, reporting an increase in property crime, particularly motor vehicle thefts and break and enters.
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As a result, police have increased their pressure, utilising the Tactical Assault Group (TAG) from Armidale and the dog unit from Tamworth to make a number of arrests.
At about 4.30pm on Thursday, April 5, police arrested a 23-year-old man from Moree in relation to break and enter offences at Moree Sewage Treatment Plant, which occurred on April 3.
The man was charged with aggravated break, enter and steal. He was refused bail and will appear at Moree Local Court on May 28.
On the same day, police executed a firearm prohibition order search of a River Street address.
As a result of the search, police located a prohibited article which has been sent off for expert testing. No arrests have been made in relation to the article.
During the early hours of Friday, April 6, police were patrolling the Queen and Iris street areas of Moree when they stopped to speak with a 17-year-old young person.
Police allege the young person was trying to access motor vehicles in the area.
The young person was arrested and charged with two counts of enter land with intent. They were granted conditional bail, to appear at Moree Local Court on Monday, April 9.
Also on Friday, police, assisted by general duties officers and TAG from Armidale, conducted two search warrants in Morton Street and Gwydir Highway.
As a result of the search warrants, police have seized a quantity of what they believe to be prohibited drugs, ammunition, firearm parts and items suspected of being stolen.
Enquiries are continuing in relation to the items seized. No arrests have been made at this stage.
There were also a number of power tools located during the search warrants.
If anyone in the Moree area has had power tools stolen, they are encouraged to contact Moree Police Station on 6757 0799. Police may be able to reunite people with the property.
Moree Police Station’s officer-in-charge, Inspector Martin Burke, said while there has been an escalation of some offending recently, police can act quickly if they have information from the public.
“We encourage the community to maintain vigilance and contact police if you identify or see anyone acting suspiciously,” he said.
“If you are a victim of crime, report it to police.
“We still face the challenge that people go on social media and talk about crime but don’t report it to police.
“The community are our eyes and ears and we rely on them to communicate to us. We really need people to contact us directly. We can mobilise resources quickly and have done.
“If we’re not getting that information, the community are doing themselves a disservice.
“We’ve got some good, positive arrests and interactions with people and premises to disrupt the goings on and will continue to do that as long as we’re supplied with information.”
