New Dampier police pair keen to engage locals

Two new police officers, including a new officer-in-charge, have started in Dampier and say they plan to make on-the-ground community engagement a priority.

Dampier Police Station officer-in-charge Sergeant Paul World and Senior Constable Andy Johnson started at the station, now based out of the Border Force building, early this month.

Sgt World, who has previously headed Exmouth and Broome police stations, said the team’s initial focus would include tackling drugs, traffic offences and encouraging better crime prevention in and around Dampier, as well as community engagement.

“I believe that between the two of us we’ll provide some specialised police expertise in the community,” he said.

“(Sen. Const. Johnson) has a background in predominantly water-based policing and the archipelago requires that, especially for emergency management and inter-agency work, while I am more of a community police officer, used to dealing with a lot of the major issues that small communities face, such as drugs.”

Sen. Const. Johnson, who was a member of the Dampier-based North West water police before its closure last March, said the pair would be making an effort to meet as many residents and businesses as possible and to get involved with local clubs.

Dampier Community Association president Gill Furlong welcomed the team’s community approach, saying residents felt the town had lacked a dedicated police presence for some time as previous officers had been called on to help resource nearby Karratha.

“It is really exciting to have them back in town. We really have missed having a police presence, for quite some time now,” she said.

“We’ve had incidents of vandalism and disrespect for property in Dampier, and with a police presence, hopefully people take note that it’s not acceptable.”

The Dampier police patrol area ranges from Madigan Road to Fortescue Roadhouse, including the Dampier townsite, Burrup Peninsula and archipelago.

It has also been extended to include Barrow Island, following the closure of the island’s police station last year.

Sgt World said officers planned to do a lot of inter-agency work with agencies including Border Force, the Department of Transport, Fisheries and industry.