A month into his new role, commander of the Central North Police District Superintendent Tim Chinn is looking forward to continuing his close relationship with Bourke, a community he has been stationed at a number of times before.

Supt Chinn took command of Central North Police District in late August 2021 and is responsible for 13 police stations, including Bourke, Cobar and Walgett, across the district, covering more than 100 localities.

Born and raised in Sydney, Supt Chinn first joined the NSW Police Force in 1996 and has been stationed in many different parts of the state over the past two and a half decades, including Penrith, the Blue Mountains, Menindee, and Bankstown.

He has also spent a decent amount of time - around five and a half years - in Bourke before his appointment as District Commander, receiving promotions to Sergeant in 2005 and Inspector in 2010 while there during separate postings.

He said during this time, he had learnt of the various challenges and issues affecting the community and developed a number of relationships with a number of local stakeholders, many of whom are still involved in the community, making his transition into the new role a lot smoother.

"For example, I was the Local Emergency Operations Coordinator (LEOCON) as an Inspector working with council and various government and non-government agencies in response to the floods," he said.

"With the current pandemic response, I am again working with many of those people and agencies to address this very pressing issue impacting our community."

Supt Chinn has had a wide variety of duties during this time with the police, from general, highway patrol traffic and proactive crime duties to managing police functions on the transport network.

His most recent appointment before returning to the central north was in the Newcastle City Police District as a duty officer.

"That roles was very busy in one of the largest regional Police Districts in terms of Police number and population - I thoroughly enjoyed that role which prepared me for my current position," Supt Chinn said.

"I’ve always had a passion for country policing, hence I keep being drawn back out here!"

Western Region Commander, Assistant Commissioner, Brett Greentree said it was good to have Supt Chinn back in the region.

“He has hit the ground running in the midst of our COVID-19 operation and I look forward to working with him and what he will bring to Central North Police District,” Assistant Commissioner Greentree said.

“Supt Chinn will assist me to strengthen the officer-in-charge model across the western region.”

Supt Chinn has had a busy first month as commander of the Central North Police District, his first weeks in the role spent dealing with the initial stages of the current outbreak in Bourke and the burning down of the Bourke RSL at the start of September.

He said he has also spent time trying to build up a connection with other communities in his district, like Walgett, which wasn't included in the sector when he was last working in the police district.

"With the pandemic here, I have been limited my travel between the sectors however will get out to most of the 13 sectors as often as I can," he said.

"With Walgett being one of the larger sectors, I will generally head over there every few weeks and stay for a couple of days. We have two very experienced and competent Inspectors based at Walgett who engage the community and effectively address various issues impacting that sector.

"I communicate with most sectors daily via a district conference call meeting which allows effective communication, keeps us all up to date on merging issues and allows for a consistent approach across the district."

Looking ahead, however, Supt Chinn said he is ready to face every challenge that comes his way, personal priorities for him including domestic violence and youth crime.

“The district has a number of approaches available to improve the safety of those at risk or experiencing such crimes. Operation Fair play highlights (the domestic violence issue) and outlines a number of proactive and reactive strategies to detect and prevent domestic violence," Supt Chinn said.

"I will continue to drive those strategies and also ensure all available resources are utilised to arrest and prosecute persons wanted for such offences. In addition to our domestic violence team, our region also has staff that can assist with the arrest of domestic violence offenders who are evading local police.

"This team has assisted with a number of arrests in recent weeks allowing such persons to be placed before the court and the protection of victims."