Police numbers fall as state’s population explodes

Queensland police are failing to recruit enough officers to keep pace with the thousands of people moving to Queensland, figures reveal.

• Editor’s view: Top cop undone by recruitment fail

The Queensland Police Service is failing to recruit enough officers to keep pace with the state’s explosive population growth, amid new revelations two-thirds of bail objections made by police are ignored by magistrates.

As the state battles against worsening youth crime, Acting Assistant Commissioner Andrew Massingham used a parliamentary inquiry on Wednesday to lay bare the poor success rate of Queensland police prosecutors in objecting to bail for young offenders.

His comments come as figures reveal the per-capita decline in the number of sworn operational police officers since Labor was elected in 2015.

Analysis of the Report on Government Services statistics reveals there were 11,702 sworn operational Queensland Police Officers at June 30, 2023 – equating to 218 staff per 100,000 Queenslanders.

There were 11,305 sworn operational officers, equating to 235 officers per 100,000 people, when Annastacia Palaszczuk’s Labor government was elected at June 30, 2015.

Queensland’s population has increased from 4.77m people in 2015 to 5.49m now.

Rates of offending for serious offences have also increased from 2015 compared to 2023.

The rate of assault was at 942 in 2022-23, up from 340 in 2014-15; while unlawful entry rates have increased from 604 to 864 over the same period.

Unlawful use of a motor vehicle was 343 last financial year, up from 172 eight years ago.

Police Minister Mark Ryan said the “record numbers of recruits” in the Queensland Police Service pipeline would put the government back on track to meet its pre-election target. “Thanks to the extraordinary recruitment effort and innovative approaches of the QPS recruiting team, the current very healthy recruitment pipeline bodes well for meeting its target of recruiting an additional 1450 police officers by the end of 2025,” he said.

“Recruiting incentives are working, with a 213 per cent increase in the recruiting pipeline as at 31 December 2023 compared to 31 January 2023.

“In addition, the government has provided police with specific funding for overtime shifts so that police can conduct extreme high-visibility police patrols as part of Operation Whiskey Unison.”

Mr Ryan said about one million overtime hours were worked by police officers in 2022-23, equivalent to about 547 full-time employees.

Between July 1 to January 31 726,503 overtime hours, the equivalent of 367 employees, have been worked.

A parliamentary inquiry into youth justice reform in Queensland on Wednesday heard evidence from Mr Massingham, the veteran homicide detective appointed to take charge of the Queensland Police Service’s response to the youth crime epidemic.

Mr Massingham was asked by Labor MP Aaron Harper how often police prosecutors objected to bail and how often those were successful.

Community outrage is growing about the number of serious juvenile offenders already out on bail when they commit further offences, fuelling a perception that “soft touch” magistrates are more inclined to let youths roam the streets than keep communities safe.

Mr Massingham said QPS prosecutors objected to bail on up to half of the cases featuring juvenile offenders in Queensland courts, but the success rate was largely underwhelming.

“We object to bail on between a third and half of those people who appear before the courts (and) we tend to find the court agrees with us on about one third of those occasions,” he said.

Graduates at the Queensland police academy in Brisbane

However, Mr Massingham said he had noticed the tide starting to turn in recent months.

“In recent months more serious offenders are being kept in custody,” he said.

He also said the QPS had achieved success in appealing against magistrate decisions granting bail to serious offenders, with 12 successful appeals to the Supreme Court out of 16 instances last year.

The inquiry’s select committee chair, Member for Noosa Sandy Bolton, asked what could be done about violent repeat offenders but received a grim answer from Mr Massingham.

“Every child is worth saving (but) with that cohort of really serious violent repeat offenders, unfortunately they will continue to cycle through the system until they age out and that is the unfortunate nature of what I’m seeing,” he said.

“It will be very difficult to engage with them at a level that is going to make a difference.”

In November, a report into police resourcing by Queensland Auditor-General Brendan Worrall was scathing of its workforce planning.

He noted in the 2022–23 financial year, the number of police officers declined by 202.

Mr Worrall found the government’s 2020 election target to grow the service by 2025 employees, including 1450 officers, by 2025 was “not informed by evidence-based analysis of demand for services”.

Opposition police spokesman Dan Purdie is calling for Mr Miles to boot Mr Ryan, arguing he was “one of Labor’s architects” who contributed to worsening youth crime.

“Police are leaving in record numbers and Mark Ryan has denied it time after time,” he said.

Originally published as Police numbers fall as state’s population explodes