Andrew Spliet has come back to Wagga, starting his new job as the district's police commander on Monday with his mind set on helping to serve the community.

He left Wagga in early 2020 to take on the role of commander of the Barrier Police District, which takes in areas such as Broken Hill and Wilcannia.

"The community engagement side of things was very important out there, especially in our vulnerable populations," Superintendent Spliet said.

"That's very important to me, and I will be getting my inspectors to make sure they are engaged and tapped into the communities.

"I also want to make sure we have the right people in the right place at the right time, so that is from our senior management team right down to our inspectors and also our sergeants. That is something we will have to build on here."

Some of the cases Superintendent Spliet worked on in Wagga, including the suspicious death of a toddler in 2019, are still under investigation.

But he said officers in the Riverina had been doing a fantastic job, especially in addressing issues around property crime which would continue to be one of his focuses.

Superintendent Spliet said domestic violence also continued to have a devastating impact on the community and needed to be addressed.

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"We will be having a focus on that and making sure we are giving the victims appropriate support out there," he said.

"We also want to see the rates reduced across the district."

Superintendent Spliet kicked off his policing career in 1996 at Mount Druitt and then spent most of his career in regional areas across NSW.

He said the advantage of being a police officer outside the metropolitan areas is the chance to have an impact through community engagement.

"You can listen to what issues are affecting them and work with other agencies to make the community a safer place for all," Superintendent Spliet said.

"I put the message out to my staff and officers on Monday that everything we do needs to be in the vein of servicing the community."

Superintendent Spliet also wants to look at more diversion methods, particularly for young people, to keep them out of a life of crime.

"You have only really got a small bunch of people that cause us the crime," he said. "It's a matter of focussing on those people and making sure we are stopping them from offending, or putting them before the courts."

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