Senior officers from the Barrier Police District are urging drivers to take more care behind the wheel, following a string of vehicle pursuits and positive drug/alcohol tests over Easter.
While the district typically experiences good overall compliance over the long weekend, several vehicles attempted to evade police when asked to pull over.
Broken Hill Inspector Yvette Smith said police were involved in about seven pursuits across the district between April 4 and 9.
"It is actually pretty unusual," she said.
"We don't tend to have a lot of pursuits around town or in the district, so it is actually quite a high number.
"They've all been varied, different cars, different times of day and night, but it's really dangerous and really silly driving from people, unfortunately."
Investigations underway
Inspector Smith said investigations were still ongoing for these pursuits as officers were unable to get the offenders to stop.
"We're very cautious about doing pursuits and we will terminate if it does get too dangerous," she said.
"Sometimes we don't, unfortunately, get those number plates, or they're the wrong number plates.
"But we certainly are following up with the ones where we definitely got the right number plates."
Speeding was not the only thing keeping police busy over the weekend, with the district also taking part in the state-wide Operation Easter 2023.
The five-day operation between Thursday and Easter Monday targeted the major factors police attribute to road trauma, including driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
30 arrested for driving under the influence
The Barrier Police District's Acting Crime Manager Dwayne De Vries said officers across the far west were proactive in their drug and alcohol testing.
"We did nearly 2,000 random tests over the weekend, that's predominantly alcohol and some of them are drug tests but most just get measured on overall random breath tests," Detective Acting Inspector De Vries said.
"We had 30 people in custody at Broken Hill during that period — 28 of those detections were directly linked to Broken Hill and two others were outside of Broken Hill."
During the operation, highway patrol also seized about a kilogram of cannabis from a van on Monday.
Detective Acting Inspector De Vries said charges had been issued for the more serious offenders with some investigations still ongoing.
"Always have a plan B when you're driving and just be mindful that you're putting yourself and others in danger when you drink and drive," he said.
Inspector Smith reiterated the importance of driving sensibly and with a licence to avoid feeling the need to flee from police.
"If your licence is suspended or cancelled, get a friend, call a taxi, walk [but] please don't put yourselves, us, or the public at risk," she said.
