Newly appointed commander of the South Coast Police District Superintendent Greg Moore has a lot of experience under his belt.
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Before coming to the South Coast, Superintendent Greg Moore was in charge of Bourke. In 2013, when he began the role of commander in Bourke, it had one of the highest crime rates per capita in the world and topped six out of eight major crime categories in NSW.
Since Moore's time in Bourke, the region saw domestic violence rates and violence crimes almost halved and through the Maranguka Justice Reinvestment Project saw increases in year 12 student retention rates and large reductions in charges across the top five juvenile offence categories.
Superintendent Moore said creative thinking, local level problem solving and the adage it "takes a village to raise a child" helped see the large reduction in crime.
"I was fortunate to be in Bourke in the time of great appetite for some creative thinking and local level problem solving," Superintendent Moore said.
"Working with community representatives, other partner agencies and stakeholders we got together and developed a framework to look at some of the concerns facing the local crime rates. Things such as drug and alcohol addictions, high unemployment rates, risk of mental health and high truancy rates, for example.
"The old adage, it takes a village to raise a child, that's the type of approach we took.
"And we certainly didn't let bureaucracy get in our way of trying to get a positive outcome. If that means lobbying to get better services for early childhood, for example, to make sure we get the kids ready for school so they're not inclined to be truanting."
Superintendent Moore said on the South Coast he hoped to continue working with the local police to continue the reduction of crime.
"I've got to take the opportunity to commend the police that are working here and the former commanders certainly over the last five to 10 years. There have been very steep drops in pretty much all the crime categories," he said.
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Youth unemployment was an area Superintendent Moore said deserves more focus in regional areas.
"It's a risk for communities if you have kids that don't have a good variety of employment options," he said.
"I know there's a lot of work being done in that area but I'd like to continue that focus."
When Greg Moore started the role on September, 19 it wasn't his first time visiting the area. He was a regular visitor to the area when he was younger.
"I've had a long association with the area throughout my childhood and like a lot of people I've enjoyed holidays down here. That continued throughout my young adulthood."
"It was an opportunity to take on some new challenges and the opportunity came our way so I grabbed it with both hands.
"I'm very keen to come to this district and work with the local police and community to try and continue the positive trends of decreasing crime rates."