Tasmania Police has launched a new community outreach van to help engage with local communities.

Speaking at the launch in George Town today, Commissioner Donna Adams said that the initiative was a direct response to recommendations from the Weiss Review, Tasmania Police Community Survey and Commission of Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in Institutional Settings, and aimed to proactively bring services and information to communities who need them or have traditionally had little or no opportunity to engage with Tasmania Police.

“These recent reviews have told us that our community expects better, more visible, and in-person engagement between Tasmania Police and community members,” Adams said.

“The reviews have also told us we need to continue to build trust with vulnerable community groups and Tasmanian sport and recreation organisations for the purpose of preventing, identifying and reporting grooming, and child sexual abuse.

“Together with partnering organisations like Neighbourhood Watch, PCYC and Crime Stoppers, Poli and the team are available to visit communities and community groups around the state to achieve these outcomes. Poli will provide visibility in the communities where they need police most.

“At a time where there is a greater than ever demand for frontline policing services, you can expect that Poli will provide an additional avenue for members of the community to discuss issues important to the community and that our partner organisations may be able to assist in providing advice and assistance.

“Together we can ease the pressure by adopting new community-focused solutions that ensure community safety and efficiency.”

Commissioner Adams said that the Community Engagement team will take Poli to Deloraine and Agfest over the coming days before undertaking engagements in the south, the east coast and the north west coast in the next few weeks.

“It’s a way of taking our people and some of our services and information directly into communities to engage with Tasmanians. It allows us to have a high-visibility police presence in vulnerable and priority communities and those that have limited opportunity to engage with Tasmania Police for key services,” she said.

Poli is being staffed by members of the Community Engagement Services team, along with local officers who will attend local events, including schools, community and sporting events, and be on hand to:

  • discuss local crime issues and provide crime prevention and general advice to residents and business owners
  • provide information and resources about personal, residential and business safety, as well as child safety and safeguarding
  • customise Poli’s visit to the community/community group’s needs.

Poli is also available to support other key Tasmania Police initiatives such as firearm amnesties and recruitment, as well as providing information on how to identify grooming, and keeping children and young people safe from sexual abuse.

Commissioner Adams said that a broader Tasmania Police Stakeholder Engagement Strategy was currently being developed, which would outline a coordinated approach to community engagement across the state and action plans to deliver key initiatives over the three-year life of the strategy.

“By continuing to work together as an organisation, I am certain that this outreach initiative will prove to be a significant and positive change in how we provide targeted and focused police services to the Tasmanian community now and into the future.”

For more information, see www.police.tas.gov.au/poli.

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