Overhaul plan means more police stations to close, major ones have reduced hours and staffed by civilians

MORE police stations will be closed, the opening hours of most major stations chopped and they will be staffed mainly by civilians who are cheaper to employ, as part of a major overhaul of the force.

What’s planned as part of the overhaul.

• Analysis: Victims at mercy of police station overhaul plan

MORE police stations will be closed, the opening hours of most major stations chopped and they will be staffed mainly by civilians who are cheaper to employ, as part of a major overhaul of the force.

Police Association president Mark Carroll said the proposals “are disturbing’’ and that there was “no political mandate to introduce wholesale civilianisation of police positions’’.

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens also plans to civilianise SAPOL’s intelligence operations and prisoner management — prompting calls for an independent inquiry into the organisation’s direction.

The moves, revealed in three SAPOL Organisational Reform Program papers obtained by The Advertiser, have outraged the union, which has called on Police Minister Peter Malinauskas to intervene.

“As the Police Association has previously insisted, these reviews are not about service delivery — they are about budget cuts,’’ Mr Carroll said.

“This economic rationalist approach only delivers policing on the cheap. It will not deliver the level of service the SA community currently enjoys.’’

Mr Carroll said the new model was based on the 2014 district policing model introduced in Western Australia. He said there had been reports showing significant increases in crime levels since its introduction in WA. He predicted the wider aspects of the review papers would lead to industrial disputes and impact on the morale of rank-and-file officers.

“This review process, since its beginning, has been chaotic, divisive and lacking in credibility,’’ he said.

What’s planned as part of the overhaul.

“The association calls on Minister Malinauskas to set up an independent parliamentary select committee to review SAPOL’s policing model, resources, budgets and staffing.’’

Mr Stevens last night insisted the planned reforms were not driven by budget imperatives and said he was “absolutely confident’’ service to the public would not be reduced under the proposals.

“The proposal to move Wakefield St to Grenfell St is simply a case of relocating our police service to an area of the CBD that attracts the most patronage and is most accessible to most visitors to the CBD. This is supported by the Hindley St police station,’’ he said.

“With other police stations, it is proposed to modify their opening hours in line with normal business processes across the rest of government, as these stations predominantly provide an administratively based service to the public.

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens

Police Minister Peter Malinauskas

“This includes processes such as registration of firearms, signing of affidavits, vehicle collision reports and other non-urgent functions.

“Members of the public who wish to undertake these administratively based matters outside of business hours will still be able to visit 24/7 stations that will be located within four to 10km of other police stations.’’

He said the “vast majority of crimes” were now reported via the police response line or 000 and officers displaced by the civilianisation would be redeployed “to address other priorities’’ to ensure a level of service the community expects.

“Another element of this is the access to police services online now, which is increasing continuously,’’ he said.

SAPOL has to find $260 million in budget savings over the next four years to meet mandated government efficiency dividends. Last week, the government ruled out axing the police band, which costs $3.2 million annually to operate.

Police Association president Mark Carroll

On Monday, Mr Stevens told a parliamentary committee that an extra $8 million was required to meet a government promise to recruit an extra 300 police by 2018.

Mr Malinauskas last night said it was “entirely appropriate that large organisations like SAPOL undertake internal reviews from time to time as they strive for continual improvement.”

“I understand the review is seeking to identify strategic and operational enhancements to the delivery of services, with SAPOL seeking to best meet current and future service delivery expectations and needs in a challenging and complex policing environment,’’ he said.

“The Weatherill Labor Government will continue to resource SAPOL at a nation-leading level. We have more police per capita than any other state in the nation. The Government will continue to support SAPOL to recruit additional new officers.”

Under the plan, Adelaide’s major police station — Wakefield St — will close and its public function relocate to the Grenfell St police complex, but this will only operate between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday.

The Parks police station will also be closed. These closures follow the closure of eight police stations in the metropolitan area eight months ago that sparked community disquiet. The McLaren Vale police station was also closed last week.

Under the new plan just four police stations will be open 24/7 — Elizabeth, Port Adelaide, Hindley St and Christies Beach. The Sturt and Holden Hill stations will have modified hours of 9am to 9pm seven days a week while all other stations will change their opening hours to 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday.

The Police Stations Review document states there are two components to the proposed model — “rationalisation and civilianisation.’’

“Police station staffing levels are currently not self-sufficient and any additional staff required to backfill absences or provide a surge capacity are drawn from general duties patrols,’’ it states.

The report states the current workforce mix across metropolitan police stations is 83 per cent sworn officers and 17 per cent civilians — a 5:1 ratio.

“It is proposed to change this to 1:1 (one sworn and one non-sworn) through civilianisation of the role,’’ the report states.

“The increase in non-sworn station staff would see sworn officers adopt a ‘police adviser’ role similar to that used in the Call Centre.’’

Under the proposal the number of civilians or “client services officers’’ working in police stations would increase to 56 — compared with 23 at present.

Under the proposals for SAPOL’s intelligence network a total of 57 police positions will be replaced with 41 non-sworn civilians — a reduction of 16 full time positions — under a new model.

SAPOL has also confirmed that the management of prisoners in police facilities will also be civilianised — a move that will necessitate legislative changes for it to proceed.

The move will require Protective Security Officers (PSOs) to be given the power to physically restrain prisoners and to take fingerprints and handwriting samples from them.