New Carnarvon police OIC Paul Tolan aims to reduce youth crime and alcohol offending through collaboration

Carnarvon police have welcomed new boss, Sen. Sgt Paul Tolan, an experienced officer who plans to change the image of what was once considered a crime-stricken town. Working at WA Police in various roles since 1986, the new officer-in-charge wants to combat youth crime and alcohol-related offending in the Gascoyne town. Starting the role mid-May, Sen. Sgt Tolan said a strong focus on collaboration between stakeholders can contribute to a safe town. “It’s just about really working collaboratively with the shire, community groups and government agencies around education, communities, health and justice, to work on the issues that we’re having in Carnarvon,” he said. Sen. Sgt Tolan said there would be a stronger approach to getting youth back to school and improving attendance rates. “Dealing with education, trying to get the kids’ school attendance rate right up — it’s reasonably low at the moment,” he said. As well, police will work with communities in the region to encourage a healthy living environment for the youth, Sen. Sgt Tolan said. “Parents are at home on the alcohol or there’s no food on the table, so they go out and roam the streets. It’s all about using working with community groups and government agencies to try and improve in that area, so kids are happy to stay home.” Sen. Sgt Tolan said while there was a misconception Carnarvon was a war zone, tourism was flourishing and crime rates have dropped. “You google Carnarvon and all you get is videos of what happened a couple of years ago when crime was probably out of control to a certain extent,” he said. “But from two years ago to now, the crime figures are down. The town is nowhere near what it was. “There’s quite a lot of tourists here at the moment, and we had the fishing competition last week with a lot of registrations from all over the State, Speedway on on the weekend, we had the ladies day horse racing. “There’s a lot of people coming back to town and enjoying it.” Sen. Sgt Tolan’s most recent stint was at the State Operations Command Centre — enhancing effective management and ensuring adequate resources are available to frontline officers in the event of serious crimes. The high-tech environment means the station’s new boss is up-to-date with advancing intelligence and can utilise his knowledge at the regional post. He’s served country communities in the past, working as a police officer in the Goldfields, Wheatbelt, Pilbara and at Exmouth police station.