MEDIA STATEMENT ATTRIBUTABLE TO KEVIN MORTON, PRESIDENT OF THE POLICE ASSOCIATION OF NEW SOUTH WALES
“Our police officers in Sydney’s South West are beginning to triage non-urgent police jobs and redirect them to the relevant agencies.”
“The types of jobs being pushed back include truancy checks for schools, animal related captures, welfare checks from hospitals and prisoner transfers.”
“Stationary RBT and bail compliance checks apart from high risk DV offenders will be performed when all calls for assistance are completed.”
“Police will continue to attend religious events such as protests. These should be rostered as user pays or cancelled rest days, not operational shifts.”
“We are in discussions with the Commissioner about having hallmark events such as Australia Day and New Years Eve rostered as user pays or cancelled rest days, with a focus on not utilizing operational shifts better used by Command. This will draw on police from across NSW, not just the frontline.”
“This is not Industrial Action, but our police pushing back on non-policing duties. No member of the community’s safety will ever be put at risk. Police will always respond where there is a risk of injury or to life. With staff numbers lower than ever, we need our police to be available to attend emergency calls for assistance.”
“We are working with the Commissioner to implement these changes across other PANSW branches around the state and are calling on Government agencies to start sharing the workload.”