Fewer state police on beat

[ltd_on20s]

Fewer state police on beat
ARI SHARP
January 29, 2010

VICTORIA Police has a smaller proportion of officers on the beat of any state or territory, new data has revealed.

More than 20 per cent of all Victoria Police staff are in roles considered non-operational - nearly double the proportion in South Australia and the Northern Territory - and well above the national average of 15.7 per cent.

The figures are contained in a new Productivity Commission report into Government services during 2008-09, released today, that provides new insight into the performance of state police forces.

The calculations consider operational police to be any staff member whose primary duty is the delivery of police-related services to an external client, which includes arrests, issuing summons, cautions and other work on the beat.

Among the roles played by non-operational staff are police prosecutors, analysts, forensic staff, IT and HR experts, managers, and tactical and safety trainers.

The low proportion of police in operational roles, combined with Victoria having the fewest police per head of population, means the state has just 206 police on the beat for every 100,000 people, compared with 237 in NSW and a national average of 250.

Victoria Police spokeswoman Sandra Higgins said overall staff numbers were linked to funding allocations and were a matter for the Government, but acknowledged the force decided on the deployment of staff.

''We will continue to maintain a high visibility out on the streets, particularly through initiatives like the new Operational Response Unit, which comes online in March,'' she said.

Complaints against Victoria Police have risen significantly for a second year running, although the report notes that an increase in complaints may show a greater confidence in complaints resolution rather than a lack of confidence in police.

A survey of public attitudes to the state's police showed satisfaction slipping for a second consecutive year, reaching 67 per cent, one point above the national average.

The survey also found perceptions of the police force had largely weathered the storm of corruption allegations, with almost no movement in the percentage of people who agreed that ''police treat people fairly and equally'' (68 per cent) and only a small slip in those who agreed that ''most police are honest'' (76 per cent).

The survey also shows that the spate of night-time violence over recent years has failed to dent perceptions of safety: more people feel safe at home and while walking locally than did a year ago, although people feel less safe on public transport than they did previously.

? All Victorian police officers will undergo new training in how to deal with people suffering from a mental illness to help reduce the number of deaths from police shootings.

Saying that Victoria Police had not kept pace with skills needed to deal with mental illness or people under the influence of drugs, Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe said the training helped police members identify behavioural cues in high-risk situations.


http://www.theage.com.au/national/fe...0128-n1pu.html


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perhaps camera's will make up for 20% !!!!! of police in non-operational roles.....

just goes to show that staffing numbers for operational roles are abysmal.