POLICE — RESOURCES — KIMBERLEY
23. Hon NEIL THOMSON to the minister representing the
Minister for Police:
I refer to the December crime data,
which showed record levels of crime for almost every category in the Kimberley
region. I also note that the first Kimberley-specific reference to additional
police resources under Operation Heat Shield was not made public until 4
January 2022.
(1) Why did the minister wait until
January to deploy additional resources?
(2) What is the current vacancy
rate for police in the Kimberley?
(3) Did the
additional resources that were deployed in January cover outstanding vacancies
or were the resources additional to the 2021 FTE level?
(4) Given the
apparent delay in Operation Heat Shield, does the minister concede that the
delay may have had an impact on crime rates in December 2021?
Hon
STEPHEN DAWSON replied:
I thank the member for some notice
of the question.
The answer is the same as the one
given earlier to Hon Peter Collier. The minister's office has advised
that due to IT issues today, it is unable to get answers in time for today and
will provide an answer tomorrow.