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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 1385 asked in the Legislative Council on 21 November 2019 by Hon Martin Aldridge

Parliament: 40 Session: 1

POLICE — FRONTLINE OFFICERS

1385. Hon MARTIN ALDRIDGE to the minister representing the Minister for Police:

I refer to the minister's media statement of 17 November 2019 entitled ''Unprecedented summer crime blitz to deliver increased police presence across WA''.

(1) How does the minister expect the WA Police Force to provide an extra 50 000 hours on an already strained workforce that has 128 vacancies in metropolitan and 90 in regional Western Australia?

(2) Why did the minister not announce funding six months ago and allocate $5 million to training an additional 100 officers instead?

(3) In light of the minister's answer to Legislative Council question without notice 1333 that, according to the WA Police Force 2019 annual report, it will reach authorised strength by the end of 2019, can the police minister guarantee that to be the case?

Hon STEPHEN DAWSON replied:

I thank the honourable member for some notice of the question. The following answer has been provided to me by the Minister for Police.

(1)–(3) The unprecedented $5 million Operation Heat Shield enables the Western Australia Police Force to deploy over 50 000 additional policing hours. Smaller police operations over the summer months have been supported in the past to tackle the rise in crime rates historically experienced during the summer period. Highly visible police patrols will be stepped up at suburban centres, the Perth CBD and shopping, entertainment and transport hubs to deter antisocial behaviour and provide reassurance to the public.

The WA Police Force advises that the number of vacancies across the WA Police Force as at 18 November is 69 in metropolitan districts and 37 in regional WA districts. This reflects normal levels due to leave, promotions and transfers. The WA Police Force currently has more officers than ever before and is on track to reach its authorised strength.