Inside a home invasion that sparked new police commissioner's call to duty

"I asked what he was doing here and he said 'I'm here to paint the house', and I said 'no, mum would have told me'," he said.

He then told the man he was going to call his mum on the old rotary phone, and the man ran from the house.

It was this incident that inspired him to become a police officer.

"I decided I didn't want that to happen to anyone," he said.

Working with the community to reduce crime is something newly appointed NSW Police Commissioner Lanyon has always been passionate about.

Sitting down with this masthead on Wednesday, October 15, Commissioner Lanyon talked about his main priorities for regional NSW.

He said he has a strong focus on tackling regional and youth crime, organised crime, domestic and family violence, and addressing police recruitment and retention challenges.

"Broadly, organised crime, because it really leads to terror within the community, the type of violence we see from people who want to disregard the law, is something that we can't tolerate as a police force," he said.

Regional and youth crime is also something that Commissioner Lanyon said was an "absolute priority", especially with the impact it has on communities.

"There'll be a big focus on that, but youth crime is not just a regional problem; it's something we're also facing in the metropolitan areas," he said.

Commissioner Lanyon said the police have had recent success with Operation Soteria in helping drive youth crime down.

"For the past 12 months, crime in the Western region, obviously including Dubbo and a number of the surrounding areas, break and enter rates are down 24 per cent, which is significant, while stolen motor vehicles are down 12 per cent and robberies are down 16 per cent."

But domestic violence statistics continue to grow in regional areas, something that is of major concern to the commissioner.

"Domestic and family violence is a scourge, and it's something that has proven a real challenge for all police forces, so we're really focusing on that as well," he said.

"As an organisation, we've really focused on being supportive and making sure that we encourage victims to come forward, and that's the first instance, knowing that they'll be believed by police when they come forward.

"We've also taken a really strong focus on targeting offenders who wish to conduct those sorts of offences and particularly those who are conducting the offences that are most serious towards victims."

With some residents not taking road rules seriously, Commissioner Lanyon wants to make drivers aware of how bad behaviours on the road can cost lives.

"One of our greatest challenges with fatal road crashes and road trauma is driver behaviour," he said.

He said the greatest cause of fatal road accidents was speeding, with 42 per cent of all fatal road crashes resulting from driving over the limit.

"In regional areas, speed is a much greater factor because the speed limits are higher in regional areas, but fatigue comes with that as well," he said.

Commissioner Lanyon spoke candidly about the need to retain police officers, stating that they need to continue to provide opportunities for the police they have.

"We need to make sure we look after our police. It is a difficult job, and it's about making sure that we've got leadership that is supportive of our people, so they know that we care for them, and we know that we respect them, we're proud of what they do, and I think that's really important," he said.

He is introducing initiatives to encourage policing in regional areas, such as "be a cop in your hometown," which allows officers from regional areas to serve locally without relocating away from family.

He said he hoped this would build trust between communities and the police force.

"I've said a number of times, it's not just about stopping crime, it's about reducing the fear of crime as well, so we want to make sure that we're very present, and we're really talking about the great work police are doing because I don't want the perception to be that crime is worse than it is," he said.

With his deep commitment to community safety and officer welfare, Commissioner Lanyon aims to build stronger relationships across regional NSW and ensure police are equipped and supported to protect communities effectively.