Secret report reveals Victoria Police facing a staffing crisis

Secret modelling reveals an extra 1500 frontline police officers are needed in Victoria but Premier Daniel Andrews is refusing to say whether extra funding will be allocated in the budget.

Premier Daniel Andrews has refused to say if the Victorian budget will include funding to deploy more cops.

“We’ll have to see what happens on budget day. The Treasurer gets very upset when I start announcing large parts of the budget without him being here,” he said.

But Mr Andrews said Victoria boasted the biggest police force than any other state – including New South Wales.

“No one should be in any doubt – there are more police in Victoria today than there has ever been,” he said.

“The last update I had is that we, in fact, have more police – by head count – than any other state, even states that are considerably bigger than us.

“That doesn’t happen by accident.

“We have recruited like no government has recruited for a very long time. The academy has been full for a very long time.”

Mr Andrews added that factors used to formulate the staff allocation model – including the state’s growth and general crime patterns – had been thrown off by the pandemic.

“The staffing allocation model, as good as it is, was not written with a global pandemic in mind,” he said.

“I’m not here to speak to the staffing allocation model. People can speculate about what the model says and doesn’t say. I don’t propose to be working through those issues at a press conference.”

Police officers ‘regularly not getting to jobs’

Shadow Police Minister Brad Battin has slammed the Andrews government after revelations Victoria Police is facing a staffing crisis with an extra 1500 frontline officers needed.

The Staff Allocation Model, seen by the Herald Sun, shows the additional police must be brought in within four years.

It comes as details of a police survey have revealed police were routinely taking longer than an hour to attend “Priority 1” jobs, including armed robberies, car accidents and home invasions.

Almost two thirds of ­sergeants surveyed for the ­Priority Policing Issues Survey Research Report said officers regularly did not get to jobs at all.

Police Union boss Wayne Gatt says there are ‘not enough police in police ­stations’. Picture: David Crosling

On Tuesday Mr Battin accused the Andrews government of underfunding and destroying Victoria’s emergency services.

Mr Battin said the dire need for more police officers was “not a police association request”, but something the government needed to follow through on after introducing the modelling in 2016.

“They actually brought in the SAM modelling to ensure there’s enough police here in the state to protect you at home so a police officer can respond as you need,” Mr Battin said.

“For the Andrews Labor government to walk away from that commitment now is because they continuously underfund our emergency services.

“It’s time for the Andrews Labor government to commit to and follow through on the commitment they made with the SAM modelling to ensure that we don’t end up with a crisis through the entire emergency system like we do with the ambulance and triple zero sector we do have now.”

Mr Battin said the state opposition would continue to work with the police association.

Police Union boss Wayne Gatt said public safety was now being compromised daily.

“I can’t promise you that the police are going to come when you call. You know why? Because we don’t have enough police in police ­stations,” Mr Gatt said.

“If you think the only crisis is an ambulance you’re kidding yourself. It’s the only crisis you can see, because if you don’t get there in 20-30 seconds, people die. In policing we are late or never come all the time, but because we don’t measure it, no one knows.”

The Staff Allocation Model shows additional police must be brought in within four years. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

The survey of police also found 72 per cent of sergeants reported staff shortages in their work units or stations.

Staff shortages resulted in members being taken from core shifts, while also leaving them unable to proactively police and patrol on foot.

As a result, there were many ­instances of no follow-up on crime reports and non-attendance at jobs, the report said.

Unlike forces in most states, Victoria Police does not report response times to establish the true extent of any delays.

The Andrews government in 2016 implemented a Staff Allocation Model to determine the number of frontline police needed to keep Victorians safe. It recommends an extra 1500 police in the next four years.

Victoria Police developed the SAM in consultation with the Police Association to match police with demand and population growth.

The government last year promoted SAM as “critical in assessing the impact of the 2019-20 bushfires and Covid-19 on police resourcing”.

Shadow Police Minister Brad Battin says the government has underfunded and destroyed Victoria’s emergency services. Picture: Josie Hayden

Mr Gatt said: “This number (1500) isn’t what we want, this is what we expect – 1500 means you don’t have a policing crisis in four years.”

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said the SAM forecast was based on real evidence, but she would not say whether police had asked the government to fund extra officers in next month’s budget.

“Victoria Police has regular discussions with government about its operating model, issues of concern, and community safety,” she said. “These conversations are in confidence and it would be inappropriate to discuss publicly.”

A government spokesman refused to discuss police numbers, but said officers would have the resources needed.