Leader of the Opposition, Lia Finocchiaro, says the NT police force deserves better than the
inadequate Police Minister currently overseeing an atrocious attrition rate, the constant
need for mountains of overtime just to fill roster gaps, a shameless lack of funding for
remote policing and broken promises regarding school-based policing and Police Auxiliary
Liquor Inspectors.
ATTRITION RATE
“In the past month, we’ve seen 22 police officers leave the force through resignation,
retirement or transfer – that includes 14 in just one fortnight. The average over the past six
months is around ten officers per month, that’s double the attrition rate before the August
election.
“When the Police Minister was quizzed over this attrition rate and whether it was three
times the national average – she couldn’t answer.
RECRUITMENT
“Labor’s current police recruitment program sees all constable recruits sent out of Darwin,
which means brand new officers are deployed to the regional centres of Katherine, Tennant
Creek and Alice Springs.
“It’s estimated there are around 100 probationary constables in Alice Springs and a majority
of constables in Katherine are still on probation.
“We acknowledge the work by NT Police to ensure officers serve outside Darwin, but the
lack of seniority in the regions is placing enormous pressure on these stations. Surely a
balance can struck which means a select number of recruits can be deployed to Darwin to
ensure the number of probationary constables is evenly distributed across the Territory?
ROSTERING
“Last week, it was revealed senior police management issued a directive to immediately
stop the use of any bulk messaging service – including text messages calling for officers to
fill overtime shifts – after screenshots were leaked to a satirical facebook page.
“During Opposition questioning this afternoon the Police Minister trumpeted the fact she’s
regularly briefed on a range of issues, but said this is an operational issue and she wasn’t
across the information.