Opinion with Geraldton Sen. Sgt Russell Hurst: Family work behind the scenes will help future generations

Although I hold my former station in the Goldfields close to heart, Geraldton is fast growing on me and I can safely say we’re calling it home. I’ve recently transferred after being promoted from the Kalgoorlie police station. I moved to Kalgoorlie from Perth in 2006 and have spent the past 16 years in that community in a variety of roles. My wife, three children and I have all moved across to Geraldton and are absolutely loving the town. We have landed on our feet here and I believe Geraldton will be a great place to continue to develop professionally and raise my family. Being landlocked for 16 years, to come here and have the ability to get to the ocean in the afternoon or go for stand-up paddleboard in the morning is absolutely fantastic. My role as the Mid-West Gascoyne District engagement and support manager is always changing. Our priorities are always changing — it’s the main thing I love about my job, no two days are ever the same. One of the things I’m excited about doing is getting involved within the business community to target shoplifting offences and working with retailers to target-harden their premises. Working hand-in-hand with officer-in-charge Sen. Sgt Chris Martin, I plan to assist him in addressing some of our local crime issues and also with the other OICs within the district. I plan to use various policing methods, some new, some that haven’t been executed in a while. Some of the older methods may simply need to be reinvigorated. I’m responsible for some of the portfolios that are critical to Geraldton, including my crucial three: youth policing, family violence and liquor enforcement. These three units are all related and impact the wider community from such a young age. Reducing the harm of liquor within family environments is critical in changing the home lives of our youths. A lot of our volume crime offenders are juveniles taking opportunistic moments to break into houses, commercial premises and cars. It is imperative that our youth policing officers have an impact on these juvenile offenders in an effort to reduce the harm they are causing to the community and the flow-on effects to younger siblings or family members. Alcohol and drug use is a major causal factor of family violence. My family violence team is committed to working with victims to establish safety plans, liaising with the Department of Child Protection and Family Services and ensuring appropriate aftercare and victim follow-up is provided when prosecutions occur. The community so far has been so welcoming; sporting groups, children’s sporting groups, child care centres, schools and business owners alike have all been fantastic. It is so refreshing to walk down the street and have a variety of stores to walk through, new coffee shops and business owners determined to make a change. I wholeheartedly believe when police officers buy into their community and want to be here it certainly changes things. I know having lived in Kalgoorlie for so long, I had great pride within the community and wanted to ensure crime was responded to in the most expedient and professional manner. Crime effects people in different ways and can have long-lasting effects on people’s well-being and mental health. I hope to instil a sense of community pride within my team and conduct our business to the best of our ability. Sen. Sgt Russell Hurst started at Geraldton police station in December and is in charge of managing the district support units.