Anonymous SA police officer whistleblower’s four-page letter on ‘toxic’ SAPOL

An astonishing letter from an SA Police whistleblower alleges burnt-out cops are pushed to the brink, and crimes are going unsolved – claims the state’s top cop angrily denies.

A whistleblower has launched an astonishing attack on SA Police. Picture: Artwork

Crimes are going unsolved or not being properly investigated, emergency calls are not being answered on time while officers are resigning in droves from a “toxic” SA Police, a whistleblower claims.

In an astonishing four-page open letter to The Advertiser, a senior SA Police officer, who is on active duty, claims the force is failing victims of crime and forcing burnt-out officers to the brink, in the worst staffing crisis in a generation.

As crime in most categories rises, the whistleblower alleged cases are being shelved to cut costs and some detectives are battling up to 50 cases at a time while being “bogged down in needless red-tape and paperwork”.

Large parts of the four-page letter have been redacted for legal reasons.

But in a lengthy interview on Tuesday, Police Commissioner Grant Stevens, angrily rejected the letter’s allegations, which he said were wrong, baseless, offensive and contrary to evidence.

The anonymous letter, much of the contents of which cannot be published for legal reasons, was written before it emerged Premier Peter Malinauskas had agreed to extend Mr Stevens’ contract for another five years.

Mr Stevens, who earns almost $550,000 for his role that has included overseeing the Covid pandemic and River Murray floods crisis, alleged it was written by an officer with a vendetta.

He was “reasonably confident” he knew the identity of the officer.

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Naomi Jellicoe

“I suppose overall, it’s disappointing that someone saw fit to take this path,” he said.

“So much of the information is inaccurate and potentially defamatory.

“This says more about the author than the organisation.”

The anonymous letter, sent on official letterhead, makes several highly personal attacks on Mr Stevens, appointed commissioner in March 2015, and his long-serving deputy Linda Williams.

The whistleblower, who declined to be named or comment further over fears they would be sacked for speaking out without permission, is ranked among SA Police’s most senior leaders.

They have worked in various areas across the state before attaining the “officer” rank above inspector “many years ago”, meaning they have managed people for much of their career.

The manager’s biggest criticism is at the “District Policing Model”, which they condemned as “by far the worst, pig-headed decision I’ve seen”.

This follows a rank-and-file officer backlash at the restructure Mr Stevens, champions.

“I write this letter in the hope that it will raise awareness about the cultural and morale issues within (SA Police) and in doing so, bring about desperately needed change within the organisation,” the letter states.

“In more than 35 years of service, in many different roles, I have never seen the organisation in such poor shape, with a culture that is virtually non-existent and resignations at an all-time high.”

The whistleblower has made a number of extraordinary claims about SA police. Picture: File

In a series of extraordinary claims – which Mr Stevens dismissed all as untrue – the officer alleges:

EMERGENCY triple-0 calls, and many others to the police helpline, going unanswered within relevant time frames. A benchmark 90 per cent for triple-zero calls to be answered within 10 seconds and 131444 targets being heard within 20 seconds are “rarely met”, they claimed; Mr Stevens in response said in the past five years only once was this benchmark not met in 2018/19 in a year when 88.67 were answered within the required time of 10 seconds. This year 92.3 per cent from the nationally-operated hotline are answered within 10 seconds.

MANY crimes are going unsolved due to punishing workloads and “simply because they are deemed minor by investigators”. “Victims deserve better but these decisions are made simply to cut workloads,” they wrote. Mr Stevens said there were “robust processes” in place to address caseloads, which vary between officers. He denied crimes were not investigated but he said some were unsolved for a variety of reasons such as lack of evidence or witnesses.

OUTSTANDING investigations, defined as crimes that need a formal follow-up, are at an “all-time high”. Mr Stevens said he had no evidence to support this;

NIGHT shift staffing levels are “worse than in the (19)90s” as some areas face “unprecedented” shortages. They claim an example is two double-officer patrols being routine despite rules requiring six or seven teams on the beat. The officer claimed that Christies Beach station recently had a sergeant and three officers on duty for most of week. Mr Stevens said there was a clear “non-negotiable” policy to not undermine public safety but the force was dealing with a recruitment crisis and other factors such as sick or personal leave. “We’re dealing with some challenges in terms of staffing at the moment,” he said.

SOME investigators were routinely forced to handle more than 50 simultaneous “active” inquiries. “The truth is many of these will never be investigated, and will end up being filed, as officers simply do not have the time to get to them,” the letter states. Mr Stevens said he had no data to support this claims or had been briefed on anything similar.

FEMALE officers are promoted to senior roles despite failing critical assessments, leaving some to allegedly seek guidance from subordinates. Mr Stevens labelled the claims offensive and an affront to hard working female officers. He noted that more men than women had been required to sit another inspector promotional assessment in the past three years.

“It’s an insult for female officers who have participated in quality processes and have met the same requirements,” he said.

DAYS off are “routinely denied” despite being requested “months in advance”. One southern suburbs officer, they claimed, was refused holidays for an interstate wedding despite a request made six months beforehand. Mr Stevens said it was a job that required shift work.

FRONTLINE officers have shifts changed, often at very short notice, to cover what was described as routine absences while response teams are operating under “optimum levels”. Mr Stevens said they had people absent on planned leave but there should not be more than 14 per cent of Adelaide’s 1823 officers across the four metropolitan districts away at once.

PANDEMIC response staff have received “little recognition”. Mr Stevens said he was appalled at this suggestion, saying he had publicly recognised police efforts while those who had given six months service were eligible for a special medal;

AN internal review into an unprecedented number of resignations will not “get to the root cause of the issues”. Mr Stevens found this criticism bizarre given the force was trying to address staffing issues. He said police recruitment was a global crisis, evidenced by some interstate forces trying to hire overseas staff.

Latest police figures show sharp increases in crimes including assaults, sexual, robbery, fraud, deception and domestic violence. The Opposition claims this is equivalent to more than 8300 additional crimes.

The whistleblower writes: “As I near the end of my career, I feel for those just starting theirs.

“They will not get to experience the camaraderie and culture that (SA Police) was once renowned for as these are sadly long gone.”

Mr Stevens, who will be one of the longest serving police chiefs after a 41-year career, said his executive team was among the best in the nation who worked in harmony.

Mr Malinauskas and Police Minister Joe Szakacs declined to comment.