Number of Indigenous NSW Police recruits rises to highest in last decade

Senior Constable Courtney Pietens is a rising star in the police force, and says she joined to help the experience of many of her fellow Indigenous people have with cops.

Courtney Pietens is just part of the changing face of Aboriginal Australians in law enforcement, with a rising number of Indigenous police recruits turning the tide on their community’s over-representation at the wrong end of the criminal justice system.

From 2011 to 2020, the NSW Police force signed up around 30 Aboriginal officers annually compared to only 24 in the preceding 10 years.

And as a percentage of total police recruitment, ­Aboriginal hires have increased from 2.4 per cent in 2001-2010 to 4.2 per cent in the past decade.

The number of Aboriginal employees in the Force is continuing to grow each year and is now at 3 per cent of total staff — or more than 650 individuals.

Many of these rookies got their start through the Indigenous Police Recruitment Our Way Program, a partnership between NSW Police Force and TAFE NSW, introduced in 2008 which is more commonly known as IPROWD.

Northern Beaches-based Senior-Constable Pietens, 27, who grew up in Lismore before transferring to Sydney, says she joined the force seven years ago because she wanted to try to reverse Indigenous people’s incarceration rates.

“I always wanted a job where I could help people and work within my community, I also believe that there are different ways to affect change and I felt that I could help our mob and our over-representation within the criminal justice system by doing it from within and being on the front line,” she told The Daily Telegraph.

Senior Constable Courtney Pietens, who is a young indigenous cop. Picture: Justin Lloyd

Senior-Constable Pietens said it could be confronting at times to be on the beat on NSW’s streets.

“As police we are generally the end of the line, we are called when there is no one else to call, and it is hard and disheartening to see certain cycles repeat themselves, especially when the outcome could have been different if that person or family had of been given a leg up earlier,” she said.

“It is also incredibly rewarding, I love working outdoors, I love having positive connections with my mob, mentoring and training junior cops.”

In November last year, NSW Police’s Aboriginal Employment and Engagement Strategy was ­released.

The strategy is part of a mission to create a workplace where the skills, knowledge and capabilities of Aboriginal people are valued and where they can build rewarding careers and achieve their full potential.

Senior-Constable Pietens said there were specific people within the force to engage with Aboriginals both externally and internally. “Our Aboriginal community Liaison Officers are incredible ­individuals and I couldn’t be prouder to work alongside them,” she said.

“As for engaging with our ­internal Aboriginal community, we have an Aboriginal Employment Network which is a statewide network designed to support, train and retain our ­Aboriginal staff and gives us a means of networking and raising issues of mutual interest to Aboriginal peoples.”