Senior cop issues desperate plea for more staff in explosive leaked briefing

One of NSW’s most senior cops has warned that police commands in South West Sydney are so short-staffed it is impacting their ability to prevent and disrupt crime.

One of the state’s most senior cops has made a desperate plea to Police Commissioner Karen Webb, warning that Police Commands in South West Sydney are so short-staffed that it is impacting their ability to prevent and disrupt crime.

In a leaked memo, obtained by The Daily Telegraph, Assistant Commissioner Brett McFadden estimated that the NSW Police Force is some 4000 positions short statewide.

The extraordinary briefing note, known in the force as a “yellow,” details for the first time the “exceptional and deteriorating” circumstances facing cops in suburbs like Bankstown, Lidcombe, and Fairfield.

The “sensitive” document outlined the extraordinary shortfall of officers in one of Sydney’s busiest policing regions.

Police commands are “unable” to fill first response shifts with general duties officers, forcing highly trained detectives back onto the frontline to respond to triple-zero calls.

Assistant Commissioner Brett McFadden issued a cry for “immediate” support to fix a staffing crisis. Picture Thomas Lisson

Filling first-response shifts with staff from specialist units is now impacting Police’s ability to stop crime.

This is “resulting in a general degradation of capability and management of crime prevention and disruption strategies,” Mr McFadden wrote in the briefing note for police executives.

The South West Sydney Metropolitan Region commander said staff shortages are at “critical” levels and require “immediate corporate support”.

Mr McFadden said that recruitment incentives driven by Police Commissioner Karen Webb are not enough to fix the police shortages. Picture: NewsWire / Monique Harmer

Mr McFadden said that a Police recruitment drive has not been enough to stop numbers going backwards, and warned it could take three to five years to return to “authorised” staffing levels.

On a six-week roster, South West Sydney is “well over 1000 shifts … short of meeting first response agreements,” he said.

The “yellow” detailed that South West Sydney is 608 officers short – some 28 per cent of the region’s “authorised strength”.

New Police recruits are not graduating fast enough to arrest the decline in numbers. Picture Thomas Lisson

That includes 431 vacancies, 177 officers on sick leave and “not expected to return”.

The briefing was sent last month, in a bid to stop officers transferring out of South West Metro region until at least June next year.

Mr McFadden noted that banning officers transferring out of the region was an “exceptional” proposition, but described the idea as an “interim solution in … exceptional circumstances”.

In response to the damning revelations, Ms Webb said that the shortage impacting South West Sydney was unacceptable, and something she is “determined to change”.

Ms Webb said she had already moved to increase resources to South West Sydney, before the memo was written.

The region will get 72 probationary constables from the next class to graduate.

However, independent MP Rod Roberts, who was leaked the document, described the memo as a “cry for help” from an “extremely senior officer”.

Mr McFadden said police are about 4,000 positions short. Picture Thomas Lisson

He said the document proves police are “chasing their tail”.

“Taking away crime disrupters and those doing proactive work, just leads to more crime,” he said.

The former cop blamed the shortage on Ms Webb and Police Minister Yasmin Catley.

“This is not a recent invention, they’ve been asleep at the wheel for some time,” Mr Roberts said.

The document is the latest revelation about the chronic shortage of police officers across Sydney.

Last month, the Telegraph revealed that police in South Western Sydney were refusing to conduct random breath tests due to a lack of staff.

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