May 1999 Volume 80 Number 5 "serving the protectors"
Editorial
By Andy Dunn  secretary@pasa.asn.au

Accept The Crisis Exists

Police Minister Robert Brokenshire was the focus of a Brighton resident’s recent newspaper letter to the editor. Scott Barrowman wrote: “In which section of cloud-cuckoo land is Police Minister Robert Brokenshire living?” (Sunday Mail, 25.04.99).

Barrowman’s letter followed two articles, Police staffing crisis hits flashpoint and Pressure growing on police force, which appeared in the previous week’s edition of the same newspaper.

In those articles, Mr Brokenshire was reported as asserting that there is no “staffing crisis in the police force”.

But facts speak for themselves. Just read Mark Carroll’s true account of staffing within SAPOL in this month’s Industrial Front. Front-line SA police are currently labouring under a shortage of 228 officers. And just ask any one of those front-liners about the intense strain under which they’re trying to survive due to this worst-ever staffing crisis.

From the clarity of the available facts, how could anyone deny the existence of SAPOL’s staff crisis. One must understand the dangers of police work - and the degree by which those dangers are intensified when officers are stripped of sufficient in-field back-up support?

Mr Brokenshire claimed in a Police Journal interview earlier this year that he has “a real insight into the diversity and intensity of a so-called police eight-hour shift”. He must use that insight to understand the significance of dangerously low police staff numbers.

Sadly, Mr Brokenshire’s view seemed supported by Rick Sarre of the University of SA. Are we to assume that Mr Sarre is an expert on police staffing levels and, if so, what evidence does he provide to support his argument?

The Government has an important responsibility not only to the community but also the State’s understaffed police force.

In his letter, Scott Barrowman simply asked for “the service due a citizen under ordinary circumstances”. The Police Journal supports his request, but police will continue to struggle without government recognition of the staffing crisis. Those in power must begin to see what the Police Association and the community have so easily identified.

Chance To Repair Morale

The Police Association has for some time seen officer morale within SAPOL as disturbingly low. Karen Beck’s article, Is There Really a Police Morale Problem, gives credence to the association’s assessment.

The current state of police morale can be attributed to so many causes, not least of which is the staffing crisis. But remedial action to re-invigorate morale must now become a SAPOL managerial priority.

In her article, Beck offers recommendations to managers about showing support and improving their communication skills. As those recommendations result from ACPR study findings, one would hope that managers use them as an invaluable guide.