‘Completely unsustainable’: Coober Pedy almost 40 per cent down on police numbers

Coober Pedy is suffering a “completely unsustainable” police shortage, causing concern for officers and community safety.

Police numbers in the remote Outback town of Coober Pedy are almost 40 per cent down on recommended levels, sparking fears that both officer and community safety are at risk.

Police Association of South Australia president Wade Burns said the far north town of 2500 people was supposed to be policed by 21 full-time officers but there were currently only 13 on the roster.

Mr Burns said the shortage was “completely unsustainable” and led to officers being overworked.

“As you might expect with a gap of almost 40 per cent of your workforce, there is very little respite for those members – they’re basically always working or on call to be available to work,” Mr Burns said.

Coober Pedy police station is suffering a severe officer shortage. Picture: Supplied

“Specialist support services are already limited in the country, sometimes non-existent, so it’s critical that staffing numbers are maintained – the risk to our members is increased when there’s less cops working.

“Factor in the additional shortages and it’s really an accident waiting to happen.

“It’s often the case that if you don’t have enough cops, at some point, you’re going to have critical incidents, where even getting there a couple of minutes later could be very costly to the community.”

Mr Burns said the situation was exacerbated when officers were called on to undertake the 1000km return trip to Port Augusta to transport detainees. He said Coober Pedy accounted for more than two-thirds of all the overtime undertaken by officers in the 18 stations within SAPOL’s Far North Local Service Area.

Police Association president Wade Burns at the union headquarters. Picture: Supplied

Mr Burns urged SAPOL to introduce more incentives, such as an increased rate of promotion, to attract officers to remote areas.

“Our country communities deserve exactly the same level of police service as our metro communities and police officers deserve the recognition and support to provide that service,” he said.

“The range of work country cops do is so broad, the learning curve is so steep. I think there’s a very convincing case that country members should be able to make their way through the constable increment ranks much quicker.”

Coober Pedy Italian Club was the victim of 10 break-ins in nine months last year, and secretary Deanna Smith urged SAPOL to station more officers in the town.

“The Italian Club has definitely copped a lot of trouble, people break in here in the middle of the night and they break through the windows to grab the alcohol,” Ms Smith said.

“The frequency of the attacks – I think it comes down to the shortage of officers in town – no matter how hard they try, the police can’t be everywhere at once because there’s simply not enough of them.

“But I do wish there were more police officers, so that they could work all hours of the night and actually have the ability to action incident call-outs quicker rather than waiting until morning.”

Ms Smith said having fewer officers impacted the town’s “sense of security”. The club has invested “a lot of time and work” into securing the property, spending nearly $25,000 on installing 16 new security cameras, updating alarm and sensor systems, and installing bars on windows.

Coober Pedy, Outback. Escape 14 June 2024 Destinations Mandatory Credit: Tourism Australia

An SA Police spokeswoman conceded that attracting officers to remote locations such as Coober Pedy was a major challenge.

“Attracting permanent staff to Coober Pedy continues to be a challenge for SAPOL, despite there being a range of incentives that are available for police officers who are working at that location,” she said.

“The Commissioner has spoken previously about the recruiting difficulties faced by many policing agencies around the world.”

The spokeswoman said to compensate for the lack of police presence, the local officers collaborate with local government businesses and communities to identify areas of concern.

“Partnerships and collaboration are a key approach to preventing crime and identifying people responsible for committing crimes,” she said.