Waiting longer for police to arrive could be a more regular occurrence in western Sydney without an injection of 250 officers into the growing region, the police union says.
Each officer in Western Sydney had to cover more residents than other parts of the state, meaning they were slower to respond, the Police Association of NSW said on Monday.
"They're already struggling (with) the police response times on a regular basis and that's before we factor in population growth and the additional, important roles police are being given in order to deal with crucial issues such as domestic violence," president Kevin Morton said.
"Western Sydney communities need to see an additional 250 cops on the ground in the very near future or we risk leaving the community vulnerable to longer police wait times than they're currently experiencing."
The call for more officers is contained in the union's pre-election submission to political parties ahead of the March 25 state election.
Sergeant Morton welcomed the government's recent measures to address rising domestic violence but warned it could fail without more police.
He also called on political parties to remove the public sector wages cap, saying fine police officers were fleeing NSW in search of better pay and conditions.
"(Without a cap) we can sit down with government whoever it may be, and have a fair negotiation about working conditions and fair pay," he said.
With more than 17,600 officers and 4000 people in administration, the NSW Police Force is considered the world's largest police force.
Its budget has increased by 40 per cent to $5 billion in the past five years under the coalition government.
Labor leader Chris Minns, who received the police union's recommendations on Monday, acknowledged the tireless work of police and promised to work towards "meaningful change" with the union, if he won the election.
"It's a difficult, difficult job," he told reporters.
"It's also a wonderful career and we want to make sure that young people in particular have an opportunity to explore policing as a career as a professional police officer in NSW. We don't want them going to other states."
Unlike most other unions, the Police Association of NSW has donated in recent years to left and right parties, particularly the National Party.
