Logan police district personnel shortage hits clear-up rate

Hundreds of requests are going unanswered each day as South East Queensland’s most under-pressure police district suffers a staffing crisis.

Acting Police Commissioner Shane Chelepy

Dozens of police officer positions are vacant and hundreds of jobs are going unanswered each day in South East Queensland’s most domestic-violence-plagued and under-pressure district.

Logan police district is grappling under the pressure of 40 vacant frontline positions – a 5 per cent vacancy rate – as unresourced jobs peaked at more than 200 in one day earlier this month.

The depleted district is without 31 constables and senior constables, six sergeants, two senior sergeants and one inspector, as of February.

Acting Commissioner Shane Chelepy said the district was under pressure and was working to boost staff in the region as soon as possible.

But Queensland Police Union president Shane Prior said burnt-out and exhausted police were buckling under the pressure and wanted out.

“It’s shocking. We can have the best recruiting pipeline in the country, but if we don’t have good, hardworking men and women in this job to teach the new recruits coming through, then it’s all for nothing,” Mr Prior said.

“We need to stop the exodus of experienced men and women leaving this job.”

Logan police district has a 5 per cent vacancy rate.

A recent Question on Notice in Parliament stated Beenleigh Division, within Logan District, recorded the worst staff numbers with 12 vacancies – a rate of 15 per cent.

It was followed by Crestmead, which had four vacancies and an 8 per cent vacancy rate.

The data comes after startling unresourced job numbers hit record highs in Logan during Cyclone Alfred, with more than 200 jobs unresourced at its peak.

Just last week, more than 150 jobs were unresourced in Logan at 3pm on Thursday.

The oldest job which hadn’t been responded to was more than two weeks old.

Acting Commissioner Shane Chelepy said he was working on fast-tracking more officers into the area.

“I think the station is definitely under pressure. It’s not about the vacancies. We’ll always have vacancies at every district,” Mr Chelepy said.

“People get promoted, they transfer, they take time to fill. I think in Logan, the issue is the total number of police versus the demand that’s there, and that’s why we’ve been looking at increasing the growth into Logan.

“We’ve allocated an additional 120 staff to (the) South Eastern Region. I’m currently speaking with the district officer and AC (assistant commissioner) about where they go, and I’ve asked the deputy of regional operations… to see if there’s ways to bring that staffing allocation forward.”

Queensland Police Union president Shane Prior

Asked whether officers in Logan needed incentives to work there, Mr Chelepy said: “I don’t think so.

”After being at Logan last week, we’ll always have vacancies. And I don’t think it’s about incentivising staff. I don’t think it’s about money.

“I actually think it’s about the total number of police there to meet the demand that’s there, and then manage the vacancies as quickly as we can.”

The attrition rate within the QPS sits at 5.8 per cent – a number Police Minister Dan Purdie was keen to tackle.

“The Crisafulli LNP government backs our frontline, which is why we have already tripled the size of the State Flying Squad, introduced our tough new Making Queensland Safer Laws, and are delivering long-overdue reform that will allow police to better protect victims of domestic violence,” Mr Purdie said.

“We will get police back to performing their core functions through the QPS review, currently underway.

“Ultimately, we want the QPS to be a world-class organisation that officers want to work for.”

Originally published as Logan police district personnel shortage hits clear-up rate