Cop silence on stations numbers in the Gold Coast police district
THE Queensland Police Service will not provide the number of officers at Gold Coast stations as a drop-off in cops on the beat continues.
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THE Queensland Police Service will not reveal the number of officers at Gold Coast stations as a drop-off in cops on the beat continues.
The Bulletin‘s Going for Gold election campaign sought data to show how many full-time officers were employed across each station in the city.
In June, LNP Broadwater candidate David Crisafulli discovered the Runaway Bay police station had almost half of its 24 officers on sick leave or helping other areas.
A month later another staffing crisis was revealed when the Surfers Paradise station did not have enough officers to ensure police were on the beat in the party precinct during Queensland’s win in the State of Origin decider.
A QPS spokesman yesterday would only confirm that the Coast district had an approved police strength of 841 permanent positions and an actual police strength of 850 officers with a full-time equivalent of 834.59.
Annual reporting shows the Coast district, as of June 2016, had 886 officers.
“For operational and security reasons, the QPS is unable to release full divisional breakdowns of staffing allocations,” the QPS spokesman said.
“While staffing figures will fluctuate from time to time, the QPS has sufficient staff and resources to deliver professional policing services to all Gold Coast residents and visitors.”
The service had conducted regular reviews of population growth, crime trends and service delivery requirements to ensure sufficient staff and resources could deliver professional policing services, the spokesman added.
The QPS cautioned about commentary on the total number of police because officers in speciality roles like the dog squad were not included in the district headcount.
But Bond University criminologist Dr Terry Goldsworthy urged the QPS to release the figures to taxpayers.
“The comment about the dog squad is irrelevant,” Dr Goldsworthy said.
“They are just trying to muddy the waters.
“I think it’s a bit weak to say they won’t release it for operational reasons. How would staffing numbers in a police station affect operational numbers?
“I think in the interests of accountability and transparency — why aren’t people allowed to know. This is where your taxes are going. People are entitled to know where the resources are being placed.”
The only public data showing a breakdown of resourcing to stations was provided in June in State Parliament when the Opposition asked for operational budgets.
Those figures showed the Coast would receive $1.371 million less for capital works in 2017-18 compared to 2016-17 with several stations working off smaller budgets.
Other budget figures showed the Crime and Corruption Commission was receiving $362,000 less this year and its “targeted criminal entities” only reached 86 per cent, down from 100 per cent on the previous year.
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