Wilkinson’s appointment is part of the police re-engineering project that was one of the main issues during last year’s by-election.

The alignment of the new Police Districts will commence on Sunday with the entire Hilltops LGA falling under The Hume Police District.

Hume Police District District Commander Christopher Schilt said Mr Wilkinson would provide local solutions for local problems.

“We will have police who have a vested interest in the communities that they work in,” he said. 

"He is certainly an experienced officer with a detective background and he's been involved in some big investigations. "His wealth of experience will be a real benefit to the community. He's been serving as the crime manager in Young, so he has a good understanding of the area already. Detective Inspector Wilkinson is really going to be the face of Young from a policing perspective and he will be heavily involved in a lot of community activities that the police are involved in."

Mr Wilkinson said he is looking forward to taking up the Officer in Charge (OIC) role.

“The OIC role will enable me to have greater autonomy to work with local people to deal with local issues,” he said.

“I will be focusing on consequence based policing which ensures a vigorous response to violent, offensive or anti-social behaviour.”

Cootamundra MP Steph Cooke said she was pleased that Detective Inspector Wilkinson has been appointed to the role. 

"I have every confidence that he will bring great experience, understanding and compassion to the role,” she said. "The new OIC model will emphasise proactive policing at a community level and I am confident Detective Inspector Wilkinson will help realise the full potential of that approach.”