Cops push back on non-core duties citing staff shortage

[Pelican Press 0]

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Cops push back on non-core duties citing staff shortage

Some NSW police will cut back on non-core tasks due to staff shortages as their union says officers are ***** of being called in as “24/7 problem-solvers”.

Officers in Sydney’s southwest will triage “non-urgent police jobs”, including ******** checks from hospitals, truancy checks for schools and prisoner transfers and send them back to other government agencies.

The Police Association of NSW (PANSW) denied the move was industrial action or linked to the union’s push for a 25 per cent pay bump over four years.

Police Minister Yasmin Catley confirmed in August the force was 2279 recruits short of full-strength, a fact union president Kevin Morton said was catching up with officers.

“We are the 24/7 problem solvers … we want to maintain a prompt response for the community, maintain that front line, but this excess workload we have taken on for many, many years, we cannot do it anymore,” he told ABC radio on Wednesday.

“We’re now pushing it back to the agencies that should be doing it, so we can concentrate on genuine calls for assistance from the community.”

Officers at Campbelltown and Camden will only do stationary roadside alcohol tests and bail checks – excluding high-risk DV offenders – when there are no other assistance calls.

They will continue to police protests, including weekly pro-Palestine demonstrations in the city centre, but the association said the shifts should be rostered in a manner that doesn’t pull resources from operational work.

Premier Chris Minns on Tuesday said police should be able to knock back protest applications on staffing grounds, although that claim was met with criticism.

Opposition Leader Mark Speakman went a step further and said protestors should have to cover the costs of policing demonstrations.

Mr Morton said he had encouraged officers in other commands who were experiencing workload issues to join the southwest Sydney cohort in pushing back on non-core tasks.

Police Commissioner Karen Webb assured the community there would be no added risk due to the union move.

“The NSW Police Force will continue to work with the PANSW and the government to ensure our officers are able to fulfil their core function of maintaining public safety,” she said in a statement.

“Significant work is also being done internally to reduce the demand on frontline police … this includes work to ascertain whether jobs are appropriately triaged and allocated to police, and whether other agencies may be more appropriate in certain circumstances.”

The state government has rolled out a range of initiatives in an attempt to fill growing vacancies in police ranks, including paying recruits to undergo training and lowering the age of eligibility for school-leavers.

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