February 2000 Volume 81 Number 2
"serving the protectors"
| February 2000 Volume 81 Number 2 "serving the protectors" |
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| By
Brett Williams |
Beyond Recruitment:
the First Two Years
Brett Williams presents his second round of interviews with three of four police officers whom he last spoke to on their graduation eve in 1998. Today, they speak frankly about their first two years as police and consider their futures with SAPOL.
olice work has changed Stephanie Cooper’s life entirely after just two years’ service. Rather than soul-destroying, her encounters with horror road crashes, domestic violence and the criminal mind have been greatly character-building. Her job, she feels, has made her confident and emotionally strong.
And Cooper’s new life as a cop is far removed from the “fairly sheltered” upbringing to which she freely admits. Despite her transformation of character, however, she still feels very much the novice policewoman at age 21.
“I’m only just coming to terms with the fact that I’m actually a police officer,” she says. “It’s a completely different way of life and everything’s been a surprise. You see so many different things - and often it’s the worst side of things.
“I didn’t have that many expectations because it was something I’d never done before, and I hadn’t had a lot of experience working or dealing with people. I feel so naive at times.”
Stationed at Christies Beach local service area since graduating, Cooper has spent most of her two years patrolling the streets of Adelaide’s southern suburbs. There, she has encountered nearly every criminal situation, from petty theft to murder.
And, even though she’s already suffered a sprained wrist from when she fell chasing car thieves down a 30-metre embankment, Cooper loves the cut and thrust of patrol work.
“You can actually go out in a car, pretty well wander where you want (and) go looking for things,” she says. “I like that sort of freedom.
“It’s just so exciting at times; and it’s so varied. There’s always so many bizarre things that keep cropping up that I don’t think I’ll ever do everything, and you don’t have many times when you’re bored.
“I had a high-speed chase just before Christmas that started in Noarlunga Downs and went all the way out to Aldinga Beach, which was pretty scary. I was just watching this guy drive in and out of the traffic. He rammed two cars and (I thought:) ‘Oh God, I’m so glad I’m not in one of them’.”
So Cooper’s dream of occupational excitement - which she expressed to the Police Journal two years ago - now seems a satisfying reality. But she concedes that, for her, the job is not all positive.
Shiftwork has allowed her almost no time for a social life, and she has been continually frustrated by “out-of-date” computer systems and too little quality equipment.
She continues to hear criticism - which she first heard as a cadet - of police management failing to consult the rank and file. And insufficient staffing levels in her LSA have been blatantly obvious to her.
Of her 1998 view that “management...could do with a lot of upgrading”, she says: “It hasn’t changed. Management should listen a little bit more to what people are saying.”
The job - apart from giving her confidence and emotional strength - has, for Cooper, drawn other, somewhat dormant character traits to the surface.
“I’m a lot more cynical than I was,” she says. “The cynicism seems to come out a huge amount.”
Sometimes, people even remark that she is too young to be so cynical, but Cooper responds jokingly: “Oh, it’s this job, mate”.
For now, she seems completely sure of her future, and “couldn’t imagine doing anything else”.
“I’m aiming to make it a career for however long it takes,” she insists, “be it 10, 15 or 30 years. A sergeant on my other team has been in it for 38 years. I would love to be able to stick it out and commit to that length of time.”
She still aims to win a position with the mounted police, but is in two minds about working toward commission rank. “I’d like to get there and help the lower ranks out,” she says, “but I just don’t want to sit behind a desk all day.”
“I know every job’s got its boring moments, but it (policing) has more exciting parts to it...”
“I don’t know management very well, but from what I’ve heard from other people, it could do with a lot of upgrading.”
“They (police officers) seemed to think that management wasn’t listening to them...”
From
The Job: Through
Beginners’ Eyes
Police Journal – 1998
amian Britton so loves policing that he cannot think of any other field in which he would rather work. He relishes what he says are the job’s endless challenges and harbours no regret about leaving behind a promising IT career two-and-a-half years ago.
Regardless of their many dangers, the streets have, for Britton, become ideal grounds on which to learn about life. So he values the constant interaction his work environment allows him, be it with defenceless, elderly victims or society’s most depraved criminals.
“It makes you think a lot when you meet these sorts of people,” he says, “and see the different ways they carry themselves through situations. It’s made me think how you can have something taken from underneath you in the blink of an eye. (And) you learn that there’s a lot more going on (in the world) than what’s reported in newspapers.
“Every day I come to work, something bobs up that I didn’t know before. I learn something that I don’t think many other people can learn on a daily basis, and life experiences are a lot more rewarding than stuff you learn in college or school.”
As part of a Glenelg patrol team since graduating, Britton, now 24, has found that front-line police work demands service delivery at a frenetic pace. Nonetheless, he has had “an excellent time” as a patrol officer and always feels “good in myself” when he catches wrongdoers.
But the depths to which some of those wrongdoers stoop have been a revelation to Britton. “I’ve been to stabbings and other serious assaults (committed) just to score $50 for another hit of heroin,” he says. “I would never have thought that was so prolific until I experienced it first-hand.
“It seems quite evident that the reason behind a lot of jobs is drug-related.”
Although he has survived his first two years physically unscathed, Britton has faced all manner of intensely threatening domestic and street crime. In one case last year, he and his partner stood dwarfed by a man of 120kg and 195cm tall who, in an uncontrollable rage, tried to beat his wife in their home.
Drunk, and an indisputable candidate for squirting with OC spray, the man was undeterred by the police presence. Like most cops, Britton understates the danger of this and other violent situations. He says trying to deal with the man’s aggression - and protect the wife - before back-up patrols arrived was simply “a bit hairy”.
Not every case of successful police work, however, has brought Britton satisfaction. He felt flat and frustrated when, after catching a handbag snatcher who had fled in a stolen car and later escaped on foot, he had to account for his actions.
“We chased him on foot for three or four minutes, finally got him to ground and he was arrested for a number of serious offences,” Britton explains. “(But) I had to submit a report detailing exactly what happened because I didn’t breath test him.
“I know you have to be accountable for what you do, but you’re answering to people who use hindsight to criticize.”
And Britton felt his critics’ emphasis had been on the minor error rather than the excellent police work.
Nonetheless, like his former coursemate, Stephanie Cooper, Britton feels that police work has not only strengthened his character but also made him more cynical than ever before. He doesn’t regard his increased cynicism, however, as “a bad thing”.
Rank and pay were of little concern to Britton when he spoke to the Police Journal two years ago. Today, he regards both with more importance.
Of the reason for achieving higher rank, he says: “You’re going to feel that you’re getting somewhere, rather than quitting after 30 years and still being the same rank. It wouldn’t seem like you achieved a great deal. I’ll certainly be going for positions which may include higher rank.”
And while he is pleased to take home around $44,000 as a second-year constable, he believes police pay is due for an increase. The clear justification, he says, are the widely-reported staff shortages and increased workloads.
Today, however, he seems unattracted by the status and much larger pay packets of the commissioned ranks. “I haven’t got any great aspirations to be a boss,” he says. “It does seem a little bit administrative for me, and I’m still interested in being among where it all happens. I guess when I’m 40 or 50 I’ll have a different view.”
Although he continues to hear the line common among all police circles - “the job’s f----d” - Britton remains certain of his future. He intends to stay in policing for as long as he is part of the workforce. His aim to win a detective position with Sturt Investigations remains the same.
Meanwhile, he sees staffing levels and poor morale as the issues most in need of attention. “Especially,” he says, “among patrol officers and station staff.”
“I’ve heard: ‘It’s hard to get somewhere’, ‘You’ll stay at constable (level) forever’ and ‘You’ll never get to where you want to go.’ ”
“It’s going to be impossible to keep 4,000 people in a job like this happy...”
“If I want to get somewhere and I’m keen enough to put in the hours and do the work then, hopefully, I’ll stand half a chance at getting the spot.”
From
The Job: Through
Beginners’ Eyes
Police Journal – 1998
But neither frequent exposure to others’ misery, nor the new-career nerves she suffered beyond her first day on the job, discouraged her. Her love of human interaction, regardless of circumstances, kept her committed to her work.
Sampson’s eye-opening early days in the field, however, were a case of “learning all over again” post-academy training.
“I was originally from Melbourne,” she says, “(so) getting to know Salisbury was one of the hardest things.
“But I just love patrols. I reckon it’s the best. It’s the different people whom you meet and the different jobs you attend. You’re just not sure what to expect, and that’s what I like about it. And I feel that I’ve still got a lot of different experiences to come.
“I also like getting in the car and being able to drive around. You’ve got some freedom and it’s never boring.”
As a Salisbury patrol officer, Sampson has, like her former coursemates, faced the full range of front-line police incidents since graduating. She has dealt with much domestic violence and risked her life in high-speed pursuits, but the dreaded cry of “801 (police in trouble)” has caused her the most alarm.
“They’re the ones that make you feel a bit sick,” she says. “You’re just wondering what’s happening to those police officers and you just want to get there, (but) it seems to take forever.”
Sampson last responded to an 801 in which a police officer was confronted - and injured - by a mentally disturbed person armed with a knife. But the sight of “police cars everywhere” whenever she has responded to 801s has always inspired her.
“That’s something that’s really good about the police force,” she insists, “everyone is looking after each other.”
Like others, Sampson has not escaped the character-change phenomenon during her first two years as a cop. She now views the world with some cynicism and has become greatly suspicious. But she also considers herself more open-minded now than during her pre-police life.
Police work has changed the way she views issues as significant as unemployment, crime, recidivism - and society itself. She has been continually amazed by the bizarre nature of some of the people and jobs she has encountered. No two jobs, she has found, are ever the same.
Of all that she enjoys about police work, Sampson particularly loves the occasional “thank you” from grateful members of the public. And from her previous job as a Braille transcriber, she misses only the people with whom she worked - not the job.
But Sampson, now 34, has never been totally free of concerns since graduating. She found that morale was “awful” and promotional opportunities virtually non-existent.
“I would get comments like: ‘Don’t bother studying, you’re not going to get promoted’,” she says. “And what I’m concerned about for the future is that some people are finding it hard to move off the road (because of staffing levels). In five or six years’ time, I might not want to be there.”
Nonetheless, Sampson sees her future clearly with SAPOL. She hopes to win secondments to the Sexual Assault Section and a domestic violence unit. She is undecided, however, about a long-term career post and has no interest in commissioned rank.
Although she endured a pay cut of $8,000 to join SAPOL from her previous job, Sampson now believes her wage is “good”, but certainly earned. It has taken her until now to make up - and exceed - her $8,000 shortfall.
Meanwhile, she believes that, other than morale, some pressing issues need to be addressed for all police. “Staffing levels are still an issue,” she says, “and “I’ve heard other (long-serving) people say: ‘It used to be a good job’.
“I wouldn’t know because I think it’s a good job now, but I think it’s important to maintain it as a great career choice.”
Constable Mark Patton, who featured in The Job: Through Beginners’ Eyes in 1998, declined to be interviewed for this story. He told the Police Journal, however, that he is very happy in the SA police force. The Police Journal will next interview those featured in Beyond Recruitment: The First Two Years - and Mark Patton if he consents - in January 2002.
“I wanted to be out in the community, and it didn’t matter about the pay.”
“I think if you’re passionate about an area and you really want to do a specific job, you will wait. You’ll do the training until you can get there - even if it takes longer than you think.”
You think of all these different scenarios, and wonder: ‘What would I do’ .”
From
The Job: Through
Beginners’ Eyes
Police Journal – 1998
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