As people packed the auditorium at the St Georges Basin Country Club, the mood was one of deep frustration and anger at what is widely regarded as a lack of action to make the Bay and Basin safer for the people who live there. 

There was also a palpable sense of scepticism over assurances by local MP Shelley Hancock that she had advocated long and hard for a new police station in the district.

Comments posted online after the story appeared on our website suggested the meeting was similar to one staged four years ago. The only difference then was that Mrs Hancock was in opposition and there was optimism something would be done to improve policing once the government changed. After Monday’s meeting, in contrast, people left angry rather than hopeful. Not even Labor candidate Fiona Phillips could offer any commitment to provide a police station in the unlikely event her party won government at the March election.

What really riled the assembly, however, was a refusal by Local Area Commander Joe Cassar to say outright whether he had officers on the books to effectively police the area. It was clear residents expect him to fight for extra resources, not just work with those he is given.

Both Superintendent Cassar and Mrs Hancock have a big job ahead of them – and that is to convince their masters in Macquarie Street that the law and order situation at the Bay and Basin has reached a tipping point and that residents will not remain quiet until they feel they have adequate police resources to make their streets safe.