Opinion: Favouring female recruits damages Qld Police Service
Favouring gender over merit in police recruiting puts community safety at risk, and the public should be fuming, writes Kylie Lang.
Kylie Lang
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Well-qualified men ruled out of joining the Queensland Police Service because unqualified women took their spot aren’t the only ones who should be furious.
Female officers who ably met all hiring criteria – without the bias of quotas – should also be angry because they will be unfairly tainted by the smear of favouritism, and have their capabilities questioned.
The public also should be fuming. Policing is too critical to the wellbeing of our communities to be hijacked by a woke agenda.
And what of the duty of care to women accepted into the force despite their being profoundly unsuitable for the challenges and risks ahead?
On Wednesday, a Crime and Corruption Commission report tabled in Parliament found a discriminatory drive for women to make up half of all new police recruits meant around 200 more meritorious men missed out.
And 2000 men overall were subjected to discriminatory assessment practices that prevented them from progressing through the recruitment process.
The 50:50 quota was ordered by then police commissioner Ian Stewart in late 2015, when the ratio of sworn police officers was 75:25 in favour of males.
The policy, “to assist in achieving the whole of Queensland Government gender equity strategy”, lasted for three years.
During this time, females who had failed psychological and physical assessments were accepted at the expense of men who had performed to a higher standard, the CCC report said.
Responding to the findings, Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said she scrapped the quota system upon her 2019 appointment after listening to feedback from women who believed the policy undermined their credibility.
“Their view was that ‘I got here on merit and I maintained all of the high standards to get through’. That’s the way they wanted to be considered,” Ms Carroll said.
And that is exactly how it should be.
But this latest investigation by the CCC at taxpayers’ expense exposes how flawed the State Government’s agenda to favour women because they are women really is.
All areas of the public service – which by name and deed are charged to serve the public – should be staffed with the most fitting people.
Now we are left with an inevitable hangover from a directive that, as the CCC observed, lacked critical questioning, and will “affect the whole organisation for years to come”.
It’s not as if those who didn’t earn their way into the police force have been moved sideways or given lighter duties.
In fact, the only people to face any consequences from this botched hiring scheme are a female inspector and two civilians who have been “disciplined”, whatever that means.
Meanwhile, crime in Queensland is on the rise, as recent figures indicate.
Our communities are becoming more dangerous.
Being a police officer is tough, life-threatening work.
Many leave home not knowing if they’ll return. Too many have been killed or maimed.
It is not a job just anyone can do.
How then could the mandating of gender quotas ever assist those coming into the force to capably and confidently deal with the extreme challenges and risks? Short answer: They couldn’t.
According to the Police Health website, fatigue and burnout, while commonplace in many jobs these days, amounts in policing to “life or death – both for the responders and community”.
It says the public is left to ask if our frontline workers are pushed over the edge of physical, mental and emotional limits, who’ll protect us?
The Journal of Emergency Medical Services lists the most common reasons for burnout as heavy workloads, poor career recognition and the physical and emotional demands of the job.
The thin blue line cannot afford to get any thinner.
We need the most skilled and properly supported individuals in place. Whether they are male or female is irrelevant.
Kylie Lang is associate editor of The Courier-Mail
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