Female police can ‘feel jeopardised’ in remote NQ posts, says Deputy Commissioner Paul Taylor

A top cop grilled about what is being done to recruit more women to remote NQ posts has revealed some of the disturbing reasons why police still don’t have ‘anywhere near’ the number of female cops they need.

A horrific rock-throwing attack that left a female cop hospitalised with head injuries is just one example of why it’s been so challenging to recruit women to remote NQ posts, says Deputy Commissioner Paul Taylor.

The Deputy Commissioner was grilled about what’s being done to recruit more female officers in the north at a state inquiry into Queensland Police Service responses to domestic and family violence hearing in Townsville on Thursday.

Mr Taylor acknowledged that while the ratio of local female recruitment had increased over the years, police still don’t have “anywhere near” the number of female cops they need in remote communities.  

The inquiry heard there was broadly accepted evidence that female victims of domestic and family violence are more comfortable speaking to police officers who are female.

“It becomes more complicated in remote communities because the experience of female officers, historically, has not always been good,” Mr Taylor said.

“Even recently, two weeks ago, we had a policewoman who had been seriously assaulted with rocks to the side of her head while responding to an incident.

Deputy Commissioner Paul Taylor. Picture: Stewart McLean

“So if you’re a young policewoman, I think there will be some locations where you could feel jeopardised because of the circumstances of that location.”

Police have since charged two men and two women in Aurukun, where the female police officer was allegedly assaulted on July 10.

The 27-year-old female senior constable had been responding to reports of a physical altercation between a male and female in Kor St where police allege she was spat on and had a rock thrown at the side of her face.

The officer had to be flown to Cairns and then transferred to a hospital in Brisbane, where she is receiving further medical treatment.

The four people involved have been charged with a number of offences, including serious assault police and are expected to appear in the Aurukun and Cairns Magistrates Courts this month.

Constable Zak Holiday, who recently completed the first-year constable program in Townsville, also spoke at the inquiry and revealed during a shift that he would normally respond to at least one or more domestic and family violence call-outs in Townsville every day.

He said it was at times difficult for police to identify who was in the most need of protection at some call-outs.

“It depends on the situation, and there are lots of things to consider,” he said.

“We look for things like assault, property damage, strangulation, if the woman could be pregnant or if there’s alcohol or drug use or weapons.”

It comes after the inquiry was told that women are being wrongly identified as being responsible for family violence earlier this week.

Queensland Indigenous Family Violence Legal Service’s principal legal officer Thelma Schwartz said the issue was predominantly affecting indigenous women. 

Originally published as Female police can ‘feel jeopardised’ in remote NQ posts, says Deputy Commissioner Paul Taylor