Councillor says Cabramatta shooting highlights problems

ABC Radio, 27 May 2002

A local councillor says the weekend shooting of seven people at a Cabramatta restaurant is an indication that problems in the area are far from over.

The shooting comes just days after a parliamentary inquiry into policing at Cabramatta and on the same weekend as Operation Viking, the latest police strategy to deter crime by increasing the presence of officers on the street.

Fairfield Councillor Thang Ngo says police should focus instead on how people get access to semi-automatic weapons like the one used on Saturday night.

"No one denies that visible policing makes people feel safer but I think in this case visible policing couldn't help at all," he said.

"What we need to do is go back to the drawing board in terms of gathering police intelligence so we can be more proactive, instead of reacting after people have been shot and innocent people have been shot."