He said the proposal could mean the community will lose specialist police officers in the areas of domestic violence response and victim support; youth and community liaisons; licensing and compliance; and intelligence.

“To relocate these specially trained officers to Wagga will mean a serious downgrade to the level and quality of policing we receive in our towns,” Mr Sheahan said. 

He also raised concerns the proposal could result in a loss of ancillary staff jobs, taking families out of towns across the command. 

He has called on Nationals’ candidate Stephanie Cooke to guarantee that police will still be able to provide victims of domestic violence in towns across the command the same level of support they currently do. 

“Our communities need assurance and deserve honest answers; they have every right to be concerned,” Mr Sheahan said. 

Mr Sheahan’s concerns come on the back of a stance by Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party candidate Matthew Stadtmiller, where Mr Stadtmiller accused the government of setting out to forcibly amalgamate Cootamundra and Wagga Local Area Commands. 

Following Mr Stadmiller’s claims, Ms Cooke issued a guarantee that there would be no downgrade of any police stations’ operational status across the electorate as part of the re-engineering process.

We have asked her whether any police positions relating specifically to domestic violence response and victim support; youth and community liaisons; licensing and compliance; and intelligence will be moved out of Cootamundra under any proposed re-structure.

Ms Cooke’s response will be published when available.