Ten people have been charged with 30 offences under a strategic NSW Police operation targeting aggravated break, enter and steal; car theft and ‘post and boat’ offences in the state’s north west.
Operation Soteria coordinates the response to this form of offending and takes overall command and control of criminal investigations into crimes of this nature across Northern and Western NSW Police regions.
Surge operations are also run in conjunction with officers from the Youth Command as part of a coordinated program of engagement with at-risk youth by facilitating participation in programs and activities aimed at deterring and redirecting youth from criminal activity.
A three-day Surge operation ran between 3 – 5 July in the New England Police District, focusing on crime hot spots and maintaining a high-visibility public presence aimed at reassuring the communities of the North and Western Regions.
Officers conducted 26 bail compliance checks, fifteen person searches, and ten apprehended domestic violence order compliance checks.
Additionally, Traffic and Highway Patrol officers issued forty-five Infringement notices, conducted 823 random breath tests, and charged three people for drink driving-related offences; 18 people returned positive roadside drug tests; and officers from the Youth Command conducted twenty-six engagement visits of known youth, with over a hundred youth participating in Youth Command’s PCYC U-Nite program.
Among the arrests, an 18-year-old man was charged with 17 offences. Eleven of the charges relate to an incident on 22 June in Moree where a Police vehicle was allegedly rammed at 3:30am in Jones Avenue, Moree.
The same teen was charged in relation to an incident on 14 February last year in which Police allege he tried to ram a Police vehicle in Greenbah Road, Moree in the early hours of the morning.
He was refused bail to appear before Moree Local Court on Monday 7 July.
A 14-year-old boy was charged with two offences for an incident on Monday 19 May where he was a passenger in a vehicle that was allegedly stolen and involved in a pursuit with police. He was charged with aggravated break enter and steal and be carried in conveyance. He was granted conditional before to appear before a Children’s Court on Monday 11 August.
In April, officers from Brisbane Water Police District Proactive Crime Team commenced an investigation into several reported aggravated break and enter and stealing motor vehicle offences in the Brisbane Water area.
Following inquiries, at about 10am on Monday, 30 June, Police arrested a 16-year-old boy at Gosford Police Station. He was charged with a total of 26 offences – five counts of aggravated break and enter and commit serious indictable offence; eight counts of taken and drive conveyance; four counts of commit S.154 offence and disseminate, post and boast; seven counts of steal motor vehicle and two counts of unlicensed driver. The teen was refused bail to appear before a children’s court on Friday 15 August.
Inquiries under Operation Soteria continue.
