Ex-SA Police officer David Chamberlain lifts lid on wild Hindley Street shifts

The recently retired veteran can finally reveal what it’s really like for police on Adelaide’s notorious party precinct – and what they do to cope with the challenges.

Regularly being attacked by aggressive partygoers, fending off threats from revellers with no back-up nearby, and taking injured colleagues to hospital multiple times during shifts – this is the bleak reality for Hindley St police, says one recently-retired officer.

Former sergeant David Chamberlain – who left the force in 2023 after serving 40 years with SA Police, 17 of which was spent patrolling the CBD and Hindley St – has lifted the lid on what it is really like to work Adelaide’s notorious party precinct during the busy weekend periods.

Able to speak out now because he is no longer a serving officer – SAPOL’s policy prohibits rank-and-file officers from talking to the media – Mr Chamberlain says he would be punched, kicked or pushed about once every three months.

But any relatively minor assaults would not be charged as “assault police” but rather “resist arrest” to lessen paperwork, and because, he says, prosecutors would usually drop the “assault police” charge because they’d have a better chance of the alleged offender pleading guilty to the lesser charge of resist arrest.

Recently retired Hindley St police officer David Chamberlain. Picture: Supplied

Police on horseback on Hindley Street. Picture: Morgan Sette

Mr Chamberlain said he had been confronted by many challenging situations during his time on Hindley St.

“At one point on a Saturday night all three of my patrols were committed to taskings in the southern suburbs,” he said.

“I was alone on Hindley St, holding the head of an unconscious male, waiting for an ambulance, whilst a crowd of a dozen people across the road were threatening to ‘walk over and bash’ me, simply because they knew there was no other police around.

“The nearest police rushing to assist me were coming from Christies Beach.”

Mr Chamberlain said this was “a regular occurrence for me”.

“It was absolutely ridiculous and incredibly dangerous and (it was) reported up continually, but no senior management seemed to listen to our concerns,” he said.

“People were getting injured on a frequency I had never known.

Police on Hindley Street. Picture: Morgan Sette

“Some nights I had two trips to the Wakefield Hospital taking members to get treated for assaults on them by offenders – What other occupation outside of the military would experience getting wounded, having them stitched up and going back into the fray all on the same shift?”

Mr Chamberlain said ‘band aid’ solutions were introduced over the years but the situation remained dire.

He said at one stage upper management ordered him to send officers down Rundle Mall and King William St “with instructions to ‘do nothing except be seen’ and ‘avoid arresting offenders as this will require you to leave the Mall and we will have to send others down there in their place”.

Police on Hindley Street on a Friday night. Picture: Morgan Sette

“Paperwork and follow-up investigations were neglected as we did not have enough time or staff on each shift just to manage the taskings,” he said.

“I was working a 10-hour day (including) two hours of unclaimed overtime, nearly every shift as I spent eight hours going from tasking to tasking and then two hours of my own time to complete the administrative side of my role.

“As a CBD supervisor, I was not alone in having to do this shift after shift after shift.

Police Association of SA president Wade Burns said Mr Chamberlain’s claims “underscores everything we’ve been telling the government and SAPOL about why there’s a retention crisis in policing”.

“I’ve said before that Hindley St is a microcosm of the wider problem in policing,” he said.

“The best thing the government and the SAPOL executive can do, for itself and its employees, is to practise the art of listening – listen intently to the voice of the majority of the workforce, understand the value our members deliver and take the problems in policing seriously.”

Police Comissioner Grant Steves said, “there are challenges with the level of demand for police in the CBD and Hindley St”.

“On occasions more police are required to attend high volumes of taskings, but they are unavailable,” they said.

“As the public would expect, taskings are prioritised based on their perceived level of risk to the public and police officers.”

He said some of the claims made by Mr Chamberlain were “patently untrue” and “we would welcome any evidence from Mr Chamberlain to substantiate his claims”.

Mr Stevens said Mr Burns attended the Premier’s Task Force meetings into sustainable policing for the next 10-15 years and “saw the clear picture presented by SAPOL regarding current challenges and future policing needs”.

“I have been clear to government and the community that SAPOL is struggling to keep up with increasing calls for service including increasing time spent at complex domestic violence and mental health incidents, compounded by a retention and recruitment challenge, he said.

“Our people are doing it tough.

“It is offensive to suggest that the SAPOL executive does not take the problems of policing seriously.’’

The Advertiser reported in September that police sources had revealed crime was going unpunished in Hindley St because there were often as few as two officers patrolling the entire party strip, forcing those on duty to pick and choose when to make arrests.

In August, The Advertiser reported that officers on days off and annual leave were accepting extra shifts to help bolster weekend patrols along Hindley St.