Ex-cop and English teacher Luke Taylor slams SA Police lowering literacy standards for new recruits

An ex-detective turned teacher is taking true crime to the classroom – and has a serious warning to police forces lowering their literacy standards to address a recruitment crisis.

Luke Taylor with Immanuel College students Tayla Rodda, 17 and Denzel Koch, 17, in one of his crime story scenes. Luke is a former detective and English teacher touring Australia with his literacy program, Crime Story. Picture: Tim Joy

As a former detective and English teacher, Luke Taylor knows how important literacy is for the every day work of a police officer.

When he stopped at Immanuel College on a national tour with his literacy program Crime Story, Mr Taylor told The Advertiser he was “not impressed” with revelations that SA Police lowered reading and writing standards for their recruits.

“As far as I’m concerned, 90 per cent of policing is communication and communication is literacy,” said Mr Taylor, who was a NSW police officer and detective from 1995 to 2009.

“Your greatest tool as a police officer is your communication and that’s reflected in your verbal and written communication.”

Luke Taylor is a former detective and English teacher touring Australia with his literacy program, Crime Story. Picture: Tim Joy 29/10/25

The Advertiser revealed last month SA Police dropped its recruitment standards twice in two years, as newly released data showed the force lowered pass marks for reading, writing, and numeracy tests in 2023 after 61 per cent of applicants failed to meet benchmarks.

In June, The Advertiser reported SAPOL this year scrapped its spelling and numeracy tests altogether, sparking concerns a lack of those skills could jeopardise criminal court proceedings.

“I’m not impressed with that,” Mr Taylor said.

“If you’re not effective at communicating, you’re not going to be an effective police officer, it’s as simple as that.

“We can’t be going to court, we can’t be writing affidavits … with grammatical errors.”

He believes SA Police should work to improve literacy standards with otherwise qualified recruits.

Luke Taylor with Immanuel College students Tayla Rodda, 17 and Denzel Koch, 17, in one of his Crime Story scenes. Picture: Tim Joy

Since leaving the force due to the mental toll of the job and discovering a passion for literacy, it had been Mr Taylor’s mission to improve writing standards among young people.

“I still remember the first time I’d been to a murder and it was very unrealistic, it didn’t traumatise me in any way and it was like I wasn’t even looking at a person, it was like a wax figure,” he said.

“In years to come things would take their toll and it does become very real.”

Two years ago, he left teaching and developed Crime Story, in which high school students learn about reading and writing through the lens of real investigations Mr Taylor undertook as a detective.

“They’re working on their observations and their inferences and about being an unbiased investigator,” he said.

“Embedded in that are some literary techniques … we work on visual imagery and authentic dialogue.”

Mr Taylor currently works as an examiner in NSW for year 12 English.

Originally published as Ex-cop and English teacher Luke Taylor slams SA Police lowering literacy standards for new recruits