Cowra Police Station will become part of the Chifley Police District.
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The change was announced as part of a controversial re-engineering program announced on Thursday.
The change sees Cowra and Canowindra move from the previous Canobolas Local Area Command to the Chifley Local Area Command which is being renamed Chifley Police District.
Police Commission Mick Fuller joined Deputy Commissioner Regional Field Operations Gary Worboys at Mudgee Police Station, where he announced that 34 Local Area Commands (LACs) would be replaced by 26 police districts.
Police Districts will have a District Superintendent with varying spans of control, while each District will incorporate an ‘officer-in-charge’ model for each of its police stations.
Commissioner Fuller said designing a unique policing model for regional NSW has been a priority of re-engineering.
"A large aspect of re-engineering is putting more police back on the frontline and a flexible workforce is a good outcome for regional communities," he said.
“The new Police District model has been designed to significantly improve our capability to service Regional NSW.
“The Police Districts will be supported by the new Region Enforcement Squads based at Wagga Wagga, Dubbo, Tamworth and Coffs-Clarence and the new Domestic Violence High Risk Offender Team in Western Region.
“Policing in regional and rural communities differs greatly from the city and our approach recognises the unique needs and challenges of both models.”
Deputy Commissioner Worboys said regional and rural communities want to know who their local police are and importantly who is in charge of their police station.
“We will see a return to the officer in charge model throughout regional police stations overseen by a Commander at the District office,” hes said.
“This model allows for a more dynamic and flexible approach to investigations, proactive operations and focussing on important community issues like domestic and family violence and mid-level drug supply.
“Police who live and work in regional towns are often heavily involved in the local community. Their job is enhanced by being part of that community.”
The new districts will be progressively switched on over the coming months with a completion date of early next year.
Canobolas Local Area Command, of which Cowra was formerly part will be renamed the Central West Police District.
The New Central West district will be a consolidation of Lachlan and Canobolas LACs with the exception of Cowra and Canowindra.
