Regional towns are bearing the brunt of the State’s policing crisis with figures from the McGowan Government showing there are currently 110 unfilled police positions in country WA.
Shadow Police Minister Peter Collier said this joins a long list of failures of this lazy government when it comes to WA Police and keeping our communities safe.
“There are significant numbers of police vacancies in regions where crime is out of control and images are splashed across our TV news every night – 20 in the mid-west Gascoyne, 21 in the Goldfields and 20 in the Kimberley,” he said.
“These regions include towns like Carnarvon, Kalgoorlie and Broome which attract and rely on large numbers of tourists every year.
“Is it any wonder the local residents of these towns and communities are becoming increasingly frustrated and disillusioned?
“Safety must be a priority for this government and sadly it is not.”
Mr Collier said the figures were further evidence that there was a staffing crisis throughout WA Police.
“After a record 473 resignations from the force last year, more than 70 officers have left the force in less than three months this year,” he said.
“There is evidently a high level of disenchantment that permeates throughout our police force and the impact of this record resignation rate is being felt most profoundly in regional WA.”
Mr Collier said the situation was unlikely to change while the Minister for Police held stubbornly to the misguided view that police were resigning ‘due entirely to the economy and other opportunities’.
“The ignorance of the Minister is gobsmacking,” Mr Collier said.
Current Shortfall in FTE police staffing allocation for WA’s seven regional policing
districts:
Goldfields Esperance – 21; Great Southern – 12; Kimberley – 20; Mid West Gascoyne – 20; Pilbara – 13; South West – 19; Wheatbelt – 5
Total: 110
