Mayor Anne Jones and council general manager Allan Dive will head to Sydney August 16 to meet with Deputy Commissioner (field operations) Dave Owens.

“We will go through the issues with him and I believe Mr Owens is in the best position to understand what we are talking about,” Cr Jones told the Wellington Times.

“There is still a few weeks until the meeting but that will give Mr Owens ample time to go through the information and start any necessary investigations.”

Police Association executive member western region Robert Dunn said he hoped council was in a position to demonstrate the problems they perceived occurring at Wellington and that Mr Owens would be able to offer viable solutions.

“There is a further allocation for police scheduled for the end of the year and hopefully council puts

forward a case which will obtain

an increase in numbers,” Mr Dunn said.

Mr Dunn also said the union was hoping to sit down and formulate a first response agreement for Wellington based on what they thought would prove to be acceptable.

“Dubbo is the only police station in the western region with a first response agreement and therefore are able to ultilise local resources from within the entire command.”

According to Mr Dunn, the police union was in the throes of rewriting the policy on first response agreements.

“There is a debate stating that stations which do not operate 24-hours per day are ineligible for a first response agreement, with the argument they are not necessary.

“However, the policy is being revisited so it will be articulated in a document and not done case-by-case.

“The union feels there are a number of places across the region which needs them, and Dave Owens is also in support of the agreements.”

Cr Jones also said police minister Michael Daley had reconfirmed he would make a visit to Wellington, but a date had not yet been set.