Despite the fact that the Lower Hunter is one of the fastest growing areas in the state, not a single graduate from the police academy in Goulburn has been assigned to Maitland. 

Newcastle command will receive two officers while the Port Stephens, Hunter Valley, Lake Macquarie and Manning Great Lakes police commands will join Central Hunter in missing out completely on new blood. 

Ms Aitchison said that despite a looming restructure of the Central Hunter command, to not receive a single graduate was “disappointing”. 

“It’s an opportunity the government had to show that they were serious about addressing the long term deficit (of police numbers) that we have here – to not get a single graduate is pretty bad,” she said. “As an indication, for us to not get even one allocated to Maitland shows a lack of concern for our area.” 

Ms Aitchison was joined by MPs from neighbouring electorates who also voiced their outrage over the lack of new recruits. 

Wallsend MP Sonia Hornery said the allocation showed cries for more police in the region had been ignored, while Cessnock’s Clayton Barr said he hoped 2018 would see more recruits for his area. 

Ms Aitchison reignited calls for at least 20 new police in the Maitland area, which she hopes the re-engineering process will deliver. 

“It (police numbers) is definitely a concern, we’ve been lobbying for 20 new officers for some time under the re-engineering process.”

However, she voiced her concerns that the restructure could put experienced and specialised police at risk. 

“My concerns are about the impact this might have on our hard-working police and I want to make sure they’re treated fairly.”