By SAMANTHA HEALY

TWEED Police have a new weapon in the fight against the region's appalling drinkdriving statistics.

Unveiled yesterday during a Police Accountability Community Teams (PACT) meeting in Murwillumbah, the new Iveco Mobile Command Post will be deployed around the Tweed/Byron Local Area Command (LAC) during large public events such as the Murwillumbah Melbourne Cup Day race meeting.

"This is a significant additional tool in operational policing," Supt Michael Kenny said.

"It offers the high end, high visibility we need on our roads and it is the best we've got in regards to high visibility."

The state-of-the-art vehicle offers facilities in the field, including a mobile breath analysis unit, not normally available to operational police. It also has a generator and lighting and can be used at accident or crime scenes, deploying up to six specialist police officers and all their gear.

"It represents a huge step forward in the mobile policing capabilities for the area and will offer a significant service in bringing the police to the public," Supt Kenny said.

The unit was made possible through co-operation via PACT, where police and the community work to discuss police visibility, police deployment and crime.

It also enables local communities to hold police commanders accountable for crime reduction.