Wednesday 14 February 2024
The WA Police Union rebuts celebratory remarks made by Premier Roger Cook yesterday in Parliament. The Premier celebrated a record number of police on the beat, an enhanced Banned Drinkers Register and Protected Entertainment Precincts that banned thugs from popular destinations across Perth.
Paul Gale, the President of the WA Police Union, expresses dissatisfaction with the Premier's remarks, considering them to be uninformed.
"With all due respect I think the Premier should check his facts before telling the public to celebrate the record number of police on the beat. In 2020, the State Labor Government promised the Western Australian community that the Police Force would be bolstered by 950 officers over and above attrition by June 2024. I ask you today, how many of those 950 are walking the beat? Our statistics show less than 200.
“WA Police has suffered an attrition rate never seen before, with nearly 1000 officers walking out the door over the past two years. This is due to the government failing to recognise and acknowledge the difficult role policing has in protecting the community. Wages have depreciated since Labor came into power, thus not keeping up with inflation and the cost of living.
“In October 2023, Commissioner of Police, Col Blanch, put a moratorium on the internal transferring of officers to specialised roles, because the frontline of policing was approximately 400 officers short across the metropolitan region.
“That moratorium is still in place and will be extended because less than half of those vacancies have been filled. Due to those vacancies, our officers are working excessive overtime thus causing burnout and fatigue.
“Our officers are also working within an unrelenting environment, being assaulted, spat on, kicked, punched, and psychologically harmed. Our members are scrutinised by the public and their own employer for every word spoken and every action taken. The government has been overpromising and underdelivering for a prolonged period now.
“The rate of sworn officers in WA has been declining for almost 25 years. The 2022-23 rate was the lowest in 10 years. The sad reality is that there are fewer ‘boots on the ground’ today compared to the peak in 1996-97.
“Our regional community are also being affected by this attrition if anything worse. Regional Shield has been a stop-gap measure to assist our regional stations, but what is really required is permanent officers living in those towns being part of the community they police. Funding should be placed accordingly, incentivising our members to go to these hard to fill locations, we need a long-term solution to a long-term problem," says President Gale.
Reney Omar – M: 0484 135 951 or E: reney.omar@wapu.org.au
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