Recruiting British police into SAPOL
Around 60 former British police officers will begin a 12-week training
course at Fort Largs next month. The course follows the UK recruiting
initiative which Commissioner Mal Hyde announced last November.
A total of 378 formal applications were received before a closing
date set in the week before Christmas. A SAPOL recruitment team undertook
the selection process at Australia House in London last month.
This need to recruit from overseas is surprising, particularly in
light of the long-standing debate about SAPOL staffing levels and
the Government’s 2003 commitment to fast-track an extra 200 police
by December this year.
The Police Association has lobbied the longest and loudest for extra
police numbers. We conducted an intensive media campaign and made
a comprehensive submission to the Parliamentary Select Committee on
the staffing, resourcing and efficiency of SAPOL.
Among a number of questions that must be asked about the need to
recruit officers from abroad are:
- Why were recruit courses cancelled over the last 12 months?
- When was the decision made to recruit direct from Britain?
- Given that a police media release claimed the recruitment “...contributes
to the State Government’s Population Policy...” did government population
objectives form part of the SAPOL rationale to recruit overseas
officers?
- Is South Australia or, indeed, the entire nation, truly devoid
of 200 suitable candidates for police recruitment over a two-year
period?
- How many young South Australians has SAPOL deemed unsuitable –
and therefore rejected for police employment – and what are its
core criteria for selection?
The association has held talks with Commissioner Hyde on the many
industrial issues associated with the recruitment decision. One point
of agreement is that British recruits will be afforded no special
financial incentive. They might, however, receive housing assistance
(but the form this might take is not yet finalized).
British recruits, the association has been assured, will not be
exempt from the normal requirement to serve anywhere within the state.
While the association is disappointed by the seeming lack of suitable
local candidates for recruitment, it will nonetheless welcome the
new members from the UK. They will bring a wealth of police experience
and knowledge to SAPOL.
The New Zealand police force has recruited 82 British officers to
the city of Auckland over the past two years. In light of the range
of industrial and people issues associated with the SA recruitment
initiative, association officials last month travelled to New Zealand.
There, they consulted with the NZ Police Association, the NZ police
force, and a number of British recruits on the Auckland experience.
The ongoing issue of staffing levels remains of paramount importance
to the association.
PASA view of Government commitment
Irrespective of the issues surrounding British police recruitment,
the association acknowledges the 2003 Rann Government pledge to recruit
200 extra police officers – beyond natural attrition.
The association considers that the pledge was serious and made in
good faith, despite certain media assertions which have implied the
contrary.
