In Australia, a crisis in law enforcement is developing as police departments struggle to find new hires amid allegations that officers are being treated “worse than suspects.”
Police unions and authorities in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, and Western Australia have voiced complaints about poor treatment, a lack of employees, and high work expenditures as a “exodus” of cops quit their jobs.
The issue is so acute that Queensland Police announced last week that the state’s largest-ever recruiting drive to stop the rising crime rate will lower the minimum age for applications to just 17.
The Sunshine State’s law enforcement capabilities have reached a breaking point due to a recent rise in theft and violent crime.
The overall crime rate in Queensland increased by 5% in the last year, with robberies rising by 33%, assaults increasing by 69%, sexual crime rising by 14%, and break-ins rising by 23%.
Additionally, 25% of all grand theft auto cases are from Queensland, making it Australia’s epicenter of auto theft.
With the Queensland Police Force inducting the most rookies in a single swearing-in ceremony in more than ten years, a big recruitment drive to combat the rising crime rate is currently underway.
The Queensland Police Service said that the shift will “allow younger Queenslanders to kick-start an exciting career in police” and denied that the age drop is connected to the recent crime wave in the state.
However, the move sparked a significant backlash, with many members of the community demanding the hiring of officers with more life experience in response to claims that police are handling cases of domestic abuse improperly.
One individual stated on Twitter that the only thing scarier than a Queensland cop was a Queensland cop who was 17 years old.
Another person remarked, “Not old enough to vote or buy a beer but okay to be a cop.”
“Policing is a profession for mature, sane individuals.” Not someone whose brain is still developing, said another.
Applicants must still successfully complete the Year 12 certificate, pass the necessary cognitive, physical, and psychological examinations, and meet the security, integrity, medical, and interview selection standards (or equivalent).
By 2025, the state hopes to hire 1,450 more policemen and 575 new employees thanks to a fresh recruitment campaign.
Male officers were accused of rampant misogynistic behaviour, sexist remarks, and sexual harassment in a submission made earlier this year in response to a state review into Queensland Police culture.
According to allegations reported in The Guardian, male officers referred to the area where female detectives worked as “c*** corner,” a male officer described a female investigator as “a good operator until her arse got fat,” and a third officer questioned whether the alleged rape was actually taking place or whether the woman was simply trying to get a free pap test.
Kevin Morton, president of the NSW Police Association of NSW, criticized the state’s hiring process for charging prospective officers roughly $17,000 for their training program, calling this a significant deterrent that keeps candidates away.
At a press conference in May, Mr. Morton stated, “We’re losing out on quality potential police officers in this state because individuals just can’t afford the application process.”
Only in NSW must aspirant police officers invest thousands of dollars and months of their lives in order to join the force.
Before submitting an application to join the force, candidates must complete a university certificate program in workforce basics.
After being selected, successful candidates must pay for an almost nine-month training program at the Goulburn Police Academy, where they are required to stay confined and apart from their families.
According to Mr. Morton, “They’re not even getting paid for it; in fact, they’re paying out of their life savings to do it.”
Due to a dearth of candidates and scheduling issues, NSW Police was forced to postpone its training session scheduled for June.
On the other side of the nation, the WA Police Department lost more than 300 officers in the most recent fiscal year, including 60 in June.
According to the WA Police Union, it is inaccurate what the police and Premier Mark McGowan have said that officers are being “lured” away by lucrative mining employment.
According to WA Police Union President Mick Kelly last Friday, “more than three-quarters of survey respondents, or 77.4%, claimed dissatisfaction with WA Police Force administration and culture was a reason they resigned.”
Only one of them has mentioned leaving a police station in favor of a FIFO job on a mine site, while many have described how working for the agency ruined their mental health, wrecked their personal relationships, and destroyed their ability to manage work and life.
Poor human resources methods at the Western Australian Police Force, not lucrative positions in the resources sector, are to blame for the agency’s rapidly increasing officer departure rate.
The top five reasons officers departed the force, excluding new employment offers, were unhappiness with management and culture, long working hours and/or a heavy workload, a lack of prospects for professional advancement or promotion, family obligations, and bad pay and working conditions.
Five distraught former police officers spoke of working without “assistance” in their workplace.
“The management of the WA Police Force doesn’t care about its personnel.” Experience, particularly on the front lines, is not valued at all, according to a former officer.
The comments made by the minister regarding the culture issue demonstrate how out of touch the hierarchy is. Knowing how many experienced officers are quitting because they are so frustrated with the poor treatment makes me sad.
“I took part in an internal interview where I received worse treatment than we’re supposed to give suspects,” I said. The entire system is flawed.
After five years of working at a regional WA that was “critically understaffed,” another ex-officer claimed that the situation had grown “dangerous.”
We were expected to perform more with less work, and probationers were sent to us to boost our numbers. At times, it was really risky, the officer claimed.
“For me, the advantages were insufficient to justify continuing to jeopardize my own security.” I’ve dreaded going to work for the past two years because of the negative culture.
A third person stated: “The labor itself is difficult. It’s a lose-lose situation when office politics get involved. A third person added, “Battling with the people on the street, then coming inside and fighting with the office politics.”
On Friday, Mr. Kelly spoke about the survey results in a press conference.
My mental health and family ties are disintegrating, our people have had enough,’ he declared.
They visit crime sites, which are quite distressing situations. They require assistance.
“Can I propose to the premier that he talks to police on the front lines when he returns from his trip abroad?”
In order to address workforce shortages, WA Police told Daily Mail Australia that it is now exploring employing police officers from abroad.
According to a spokeswoman, “Given the current conditions, WA Police is examining a range of possibilities to attract future recruits.”
Although decisions have not yet been made on any anticipated extension of the current recruitment drive, this includes potential interstate and international recruitment activities.
The state’s police and recruitment methods should be overhauled, the South Australian police union demanded two weeks ago as officers struggled to deal with a shrinking force.
According to Police Association of South Australia president Mark Carroll, “We have been telling commissioner Grant Stevens that his district policing strategy is failing for more than a year now.”
It is failing South Australian law enforcement officials, investigators, and the general populace.
SA Police, according to Mr. Carroll, “are battling to sustain numbers.”
In a state with 1.5 million residents, he said, “we find it a startling reflection on SAPOL’s recruiting processes that we can’t obtain 90 persons to fill the recruit classes.”
The union’s representatives were to meet on Wednesday to further examine the issues the SA Police are now facing.
There are concerns that there won’t soon be enough officers available to respond to crimes due to the lack and a “enormous surge” in crime rates in SA, with 5,100 more offences than usual committed in April alone.