Queensland Police is experiencing its worst recruitment crisis in five years with hundreds of officers quitting the force and 2,000 more out of action.
During the last financial year 709 officers resigned, 1,355 were sick for more than 25 days, and 650 were off on long-term psychological leave, according to new police data.
Former Detective Inspector Dr Terry Goldsworthy said the exodus was a result of organisational failure, and warned the statistics showed growth was not fast enough to meet recruitment targets.
“It’s not that they don’t want to be police, it’s just the way the organisation is malfunctioning rather than functioning,” he told 7News.
The data shows the Brisbane region is bearing the brunt of the crisis, with officers there taking the highest amount of stress leave in the past year, and Acting Police Union President Andy Williams said the capital had 40% of the state’s demand, but far from 40% of the resources.
But Minister for Police and Emergency Services Dan Purdie said “unplanned attrition” was at its lowest level in three years, and the Liberal National Party government had boosted recruitment since winning last year’s state election.
“We have already sworn in 1,077 new frontline officers, and are committed to delivering a minimum of 1,600 additional recruits over the next four years,” he said.
Queensland is not the only state struggling to recruit, with Victoria Police needing to fill more than 1,000 vacancies by the end of July despite entrance standards being drastically reduced in March. Hundreds more officers are off on sick leave, and staffing levels are sitting at 50% at some stations.
An ABC analysis in September found more than 4,500 vacancies nationwide, including 2,279 in NSW, 895 in Queensland, 200 each in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, 170 in South Australia, 32 in Tasmania, and 22 in the ACT.
The worst vacancy rates were in NSW and the NT, on 12% and 10% respectively, followed by Queensland on 7%.
Header image credit: Queensland Police.
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