A Kempsey MP claims an increasing “severity of violence” across the Mid North Coast has necessitated calls for police drones to patrol the skies.
Member for Oxley Michael Kemp has called on the state to expand its PolAir-Remote Drone program to the Mid North Coast.
“A remotely operated drone could give police the ability to quickly cover difficult terrain, track offenders and provide critical information to officers on the ground,” he said.
A six-month trial of the program began in Moree, in northern NSW, in February.
According to the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, Kempsey Shire ranked second in the state for motor vehicle theft and third for break and enter offences in 2025.
Non-domestic assaults in the Kempsey LGA rose 7.1 percent in the 12 months to March 2026, however crimes like theft and malicious damage to property remained stable.
Prime example: In the early hours of Monday a man was stabbed after a group of people allegedly forced their way into his Port Macquarie home and stole a black Ford Mustang and a grey Mercedes C300.
The vehicles were later spotted at Kempsey and a pursuit began. The Mustang was abandoned while the Mercedes was set alight in the nearby Greenhill area. No arrests have been made.
Follow at a distance: “It's not just safer for police if you've got a drone following, and the policemen and women are following at a distance, it is also safer for other community members who are using the road,” Kemp told the Mid North Coaster.
The Moree trial: Police say the drones, which are remotely piloted from Bankstown in Sydney, have assisted in Moree with more than 100 arrests, the recovery of 70 stolen vehicles and the location of six missing people.
Police minister Yasmin Catley told NSW Parliament last week she believed the drones had public backing.
Civil rights: Ahead of the Moree trial, civil liberties advocates expressed concern about surveillance, privacy and the potential for over-policing of communities with high Indigenous populations.
Kemp questioned the legitimacy of those concerns, saying they had never been raised with him by community members, only journalists.
Will it be approved?: In parliament, Catley said the state was “going to work hard to roll this out”, but that it would require a “big injection of funding”.
A Kemp petition is calling for the drone program to be expanded to the Mid North Coast and for regions to be prioritised in the roll out.
Image credit: NSW Police.