Big rewards ‘needed to solve shootings’

Rewards of up to $50,000 are needed to help crack Sydney’s spike in gun crime, the NSW opposition says.

The Easter long weekend saw another rise in gun crime across the city, with five shootings in four days, including three men blasted in the legs and a 29-year-old gunned down on a Kings Cross strip club dance floor.

Detectives have been frustrated by the reluctance of victims and their associates to co-operate with police investigations into some of the incidents.

Opposition Leader John Robertson said rewards of up to $50,000 were needed to encourage witnesses.

“Police are facing a wall of silence when it comes to the shootings plaguing Sydney streets,” he said in a statement.

“Cash rewards of up to $50,000 should be offered to any person who comes forward with information that leads to the arrest and conviction of these gangland thugs.”

The opposition claims there have been 79 shootings since March 2011.

Opposition police spokesman Nathan Rees accused Premier Barry O’Farrell of failing to take the issue seriously and said Sydney police stations were understaffed.

But senior police, including Assistant Commissioner Frank Mennilli, have dismissed calls for more officers, saying it would make little difference.

Mr Mennilli said several of the shootings that took place over the Easter weekend were deliberately targeted and sparked by disputes over drugs or territories.

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