Dire NSW police shortage sparks Minns government bid to lure NZ cops

With NSW over 1500 officers short, the Minns government is taking action to fast-track police recruitment and lure interstate and overseas cops to our shores.

The shortage of police in NSW has become so dire red tape will be slashed to lure interstate and overseas cops to our shores and country-born officers urged to return and work in their home towns.With NSW over 1500 officers short, the Minns government will today announce plans to fast-track New Zealand police and officers from other states to join the force by shortening their training requirements.

Recruited officers joining NSW Police will complete a three-month course at the Goulburn Police academy, instead of the previous eight months of study, which included four months in-person at Goulburn.

A scheme enabling police graduates to request a return to their hometown or nearby community, with preference given to those recruits to fill vacancies will also be announced.

The NSW Police Association welcomed the new measures, with president Kevin Morton claiming he had never seen such an “unprecedented” shortage “in my 34 years of policing, where the entire state has been affected”.

Police shorts in NSW are so dire the government is hoping to fast track overseas applicants. Picture: NCA Newswire / Gaye Gerard

“And this figure of 1500 vacancies doesn’t take into account up to a 1000 current police officers on sick report, suffering burnout, because of the overload of their workload – they are doing more with less and are suffering significantly from that,” Mr Morton said.

“There’s certainly a lot of commands across the state that have had to look at the allocation of staff – and some units within those commands have closed down, to redivert those resources back on the front line, on calls for assistance.”

NSW Minister Police Minster Yasmin Catley is trying to attract more police to NSW. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard

“We need to recruit people so they can get back out to doing what they were doing for that command – some HVP (high visibility police) units which are generally made up of general duties police, have been redistributed back to the front line.”

Senior police claimed some commands are below 70 per cent of what is considered full strength.

“There are police stations where detectives are having to do general duties work because there are not enough police to do the front line work,” one officer said.

“The problem is dire and getting worse.”

NSW faces stiff competition to get experienced cops to join our ranks – with other states recruiting as far afield as the UK and Canada – and Queensland offering $20,000 financial bonuses to relocate there.

The latest Minns government attempt to plug critical shortages follows hot on the heels of its scheme to pay recruits $30,984 to study at the Goulburn Police Academy during their 16-week course.

NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley said there had already been a 26 per cent increase in applications to join the force and the current class at the academy was “full to the brim with more than 350 new recruits – the first full class in years”.

“I know our police are stretched and overworked,” she said.

“We need more boots on the ground and that’s what we’re determined to achieve.

Official headcount figures from NSW Police Force reveal the extent of the problem – in June 2021 there were 17,727 police employed across the state – yet by the middle of last year that had fallen to 17,062 despite population increases and a massive jump in migration.

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