It is quite clear that all is not well with the New South Wales police force. Trained officers are resigning at almost the same rate as we are minting new police out of the police academy. Policing is a skill best learned on the job and this turnover is robbing us of the experienced officers we so badly need to bring balance to the force.
Sadly, the main cause is " psychological injuries " with 728 officers leaving last year, while a thousand new officers put on their uniforms and exited the police academy. Psychological injuries are those caused by " internal organizational factors " as explained by the NSW police association.
This is causing the loss of an immense amount of money. Hundreds of police officers being medically discharged pushed the annual workers compensation bill to $ 264.7 million last year. Since 2016 this has reached a total of $ 832.2 million.
It seems evident that this is caused by the behaviour of senior management who reply on a culture of bullying and harassment in deciding promotion and settling internal disputes. This was illustrated by the comment of a serving police officer who commented. " Once you put your hand up, stand up for yourself about an injustice or support other officers who are being mistreated, it is committing career suicide ".
The police force is constituted along military lines. Promotion is by way of rank upgrade with police walking the beat similar to soldiers at the war front, while the colonels and generals are far removed from the danger zone. Many in the tiers of management have learned little from the social changes that have occurred in recent years. They express their resentment at men and women within the force who mirror the changes that are now legal in our society.
We are losing the very people who by length of service gain the intuition and skills that deliver good policing and provide role models for those new recruits pouring out of the academy. This resistance to change is resulting in those with the same attitude filling promotional slots and enhancing this discontent abundantly clear with the rank and file that they are not being treated fairly or allowed to advance on their merits.
Far too many people in all levels of management have held their positions for too long without their mental attitude being subjected to an impartial review. Old prejudices linger and if these are standing in the way of fair decisions being made the force is little better than the crime fraternity its services are ranged against.
The weeding out of management with the wrong attitude must start from the top. It is not sufficient to excuse an officer employing bullying tactics by claiming he or she is " a bit old fashioned ". The police are our first line of defence against crime and we need to have faith that they will act in cohesian with the laws that governs their action.
That will not happen until cronyism and bullying is purged from the management structure !
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