As was well publicised, Operation 'Slow Down' was conducted over the long weekend. Your local police and highway patrol were out in big numbers. Police conducted in excess of 4,000 random breath tests, and 228 speeding offences were issued.
Overall, far too many people being detected speeding, not wearing restraints and committing offences.
On top of this, four people were arrested and charged with driving with alcohol in their system.
Some are simply slow on the uptake or just don't care. The likely consequence for some of these motorists is that they will cause or be involved in a serious motor vehicle collision. We will continue to work with our community to educate and engage, but sometimes enforcement is the only way to get the message through to some.
September 30 saw the end of the national gun amnesty. In total 369 firearms were handed in across our command and over 5000 rounds of ammunition. I touched on this a few weeks back and the message was 'how many guns do you really need?' It is a fact that rural communities such as those within our command have a much higher proportion of firearms. So to see some people hand in their surplus or redundant firearms is pleasing. The less firearms on the streets the better, as the opportunity for thieves to target such properties to steal firearms and sell them on the black market is a real threat.
I urge all licensed firearm holders to ensure that they secure their firearms and ammunition and strictly adhere to legislative requirements. Those that don’t can expect to have their firearms seized, licenses revoked and a date with a magistrate.
