Police fear ‘crime crisis’ as NSW has lowest number of officers compared to population

EXCLUSIVE: SOME of the state’s most senior police officers warn of a crime crisis as NSW now has the lowest number of officers compared to population.

NSW police officers in Newtown working the beat on Saturday night. Picture: Steve Tyson

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SOME of the state’s most senior police officers are warning of a looming crime crisis as NSW now has the lowest number of police officers compared to population of any major state in Australia.

It can today be revealed there are just 215 cops for every 100,000 people across the state. In Victoria, there are 222 cops and in South Australia there are 275.

Frontline policing across all six NSW regions has fallen by more than 1000 officers since 2011-12. And the Police Association says the state needs at least extra 247 cops every year just to keep up with population growth.

“We have the lowest number of cops, relatively, in the country and are constantly being asked to do more with less,” association president Scott Weber said. “We need more cops so we can go forward — not backward.”

NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller says crime rates in NSW were “at 20-year lows”.

Senior police told The Daily Telegraph more than 600 officers had simply “vanished’’ from “walking the beat” in recent years.

“Where they have gone I honestly have no idea, but they are not on the streets,’’ one senior cop said.

Senior police also told The Daily Telegraph that resources are taken up “babysitting’’ juveniles because of a lack of Family and Community Services department workers. FACS doesn’t have case workers who can be called out after 5pm unless it’s considered an emergency.

“We are picking up the slack of a lot of other government agencies,” a top cop said.

The Victorian Police Association warned NSW is heading down the same path its state did — leading to a spike in street crime. The increase in crime prompted the Victorian government to boost police numbers by 2022 and give it the biggest force in the country.

“We’ve seen what happens in Victoria when police numbers stagnate. It provides fertile soil for crime to flourish,” Police Association of Victoria secretary Wayne Gatt said.

But NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said crime rates in NSW were “at 20-year lows” while he has committed to a major restructure that will put more troops on the frontline. “This is an opportunity to improve policing in NSW,” he said.

Frontline policing across all six NSW regions has fallen by more than 1000 officers since 2011-12. Picture: Steve Tyson

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IT’S CRIMINAL TO SHACKLE OUR COPS

COMMENT MARK MORRI

THE cop on the beat is becoming an endangered species in this city and the government has to act quickly.

For too long NSW Police have been doing more with less in keeping crime rates down despite a tidal wave of well-funded organised crime figures targeting Sydney as a place of business. Added to this is the ever-increasing terror threat to be dealt with.

But their success will not go on forever without more resources. The figures show we are at a tipping point and have to recruit now before the crime wave comes, not after it hits like we saw in Victoria.

In real terms there is no escaping the fact this government is cutting police funding no matter how they try to spin it. The NSW Crime Commission has quietly helped NSW detectives lock up some of our most vicious criminals while taking millions of dollars of their assets but its budget is reduced every year while criminal activity increases.

The Premier’s obsession with infrastructure may be good for jobs but should not come at the cost of what matters most — community safety