Qld police report finds officers waylaid by non-core duties

Overworked police are still doing the jobs of other government departments, with a 100-day review finding they should return to their core role.

Acting Police Commissioner Shane Chelepy has opened up on the challenges facing the service. Picture: David Clark

• Editor’s view: Let them police
• Brett Pointing: Fatigued, burning out

Less than a third of Queensland’s police service workforce provides a visible response in the community, with a landmark review recommending staff return to more key frontline duties.

Overworked police are still doing the jobs of other government departments – such as prisoner transports or guarding prisoners at hospitals for hours – with a 100-day review finding the service should go back to its core role of protecting the community.

Acting Commissioner Shane Chelepy told The Courier-Mail the review had found there was a need to realign the service back to the frontline to keep up with policing demands, which included about 570 domestic and family violence jobs every day.

“What came through loud and clear was the feeling of the workforce of the amount of functions that the organisation does,” Mr Chelepy said.

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“There was a quote there by one of our police that we interviewed that I think summed it up.

“It says police are real estate agents, we’re mediators, we’re teachers, we’re lawyers, we’re removalists, we’re childcare workers, we’re corrective services, security guards and often magicians.”

Mr Chelepy said there were 65 recommendations in the review, which he had accepted, and discussions would be taking place with government departments to define what roles police played.

Under changes he said frontline police would be given more autonomy in decision-making and the regions would have greater power to make decisions, rather than being controlled by Brisbane.

A graduation ceremony at Queensland’s police academy

A bloated executive leadership team will be scaled back and some commands will also be reduced to streamline the service.

He said no staff would be losing jobs. Staff would be realigned and current vacancies in some areas would not be filled.

Mental health co-responder teams will also be introduced to reduce some of the burden on frontline police.

Mr Chelepy said the end goal was more support for frontline police, which will include more mental health, welfare and support services for police.

Of the entire 19,000 QPS workforce, which includes civilian staff, the review found just 32.6 per cent provided a visible policing response.

Of the total police staff, about 53.76 per cent provided a visible policing response, while another 17 per cent were operational but not in the public.

Mr Chelepy said he wanted to increase the visible policing numbers by realigning officers to the frontline where possible.

The review noted the service attrition rate was also 3.2 per cent, which was too high.

“This year we will be expected to attend just over 180,000 domestic and family violence jobs, we will be on track to attend just over 60,000 mental health call-outs,” Mr Chelepy said.

“In addition to that, as we saw through in the watch-house review, we’re doing prisoner guards, we’re doing prisoner transports, we’re doing correctional facilities in our watch houses.

Queensland police headquarters in Brisbane’s Roma St

“So we are doing far too much outside of our core business, and that came through loud and clear from the staff.

“That hasn’t happened overnight. That has been a decade in the making, and it’s accelerated considerably since Covid.

“We won’t be able to flick a dial overnight and change that, but we will work with our partner agencies, and we will define our role on where we think our role in crime prevention starts and crime prevention finishes.”

Mr Chelepy said police should not be involved in early intervention.

“We’ll work with the education department, we’ll work with youth justice, and over time, we will shift those responsibilities back to that department,” he said.

Mr Chelepy said he had already changed auditing requirements and decision-making for senior police relating to domestic violence callouts so sergeants could make decisions with crews on the ground, rather than a review of bodyworn days later.

He said a number of the recommendations would be implemented in coming weeks and months but some could take up to two years.

The review was conducted internally by Assistant Commissioner Brian Swan, overseen by Mr Chelepy.

There were more than 170 engagement sessions and more than 350 written submissions.

There was also an independent advisory panel including employee relations expert Mischa Fahl, former deputy commissioners Ross Barnett, Brett Pointing and former detective superintendent Mark Ainsworth.

Acting Police Commissioner Shane Chelepy says... Picture: David Clark

Police Minister Dan Purdie said the review was commissioned to get a clear picture of the challenges police faced on the job and how to bolster the frontline.

Cabinet would now consider the review recommendations, he said.

“After a decade of the blue line thinning, we need more police on the frontline to help make Queensland safer – that’s what we promised, and that’s what we will deliver.”

Mr Pointing told The Courier-Mail the independent panel had found a hardworking and dedicated police service that was deeply fatigued.

He said he was shocked at the rate of attrition.

“The frontline in particular feel under supported and this is resulting in higher rates of attrition, particularly in the one to three year constable cohort,” he said.

Mr Pointing said the panel observed “mission creep” as the Police Service Administration Act allowed for broad roles and functions, which took police from their core role of keeping the community safe.

“Examples of this are prisoner transportation, guarding prisoners in hospitals on non-critical mental health responses,” he said.

“More work needs to be done to more clearly define the role of police in contemporary society, perhaps through a service charter and a demand management mechanism that ensures police are servicing the community appropriately.”

Mr Pointing said there was a clear need for better rostering practice for the frontline and more wellbeing support, including fatigue management initiatives.

Originally published as Qld police report finds officers waylaid by non-core duties