Queensland Police Union calls for action to address officers leaving the job in ‘droves’
Police officers spread thinly throughout Cairns and a transferring of specialist officers on Cape York deployments is the reason for surging car thefts and a recent spike in break-in offences.
Cairns
Don't miss out on the headlines from Cairns. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A lack of cops on the ground throughout Cairns and a transferring of specialist officers to Cape York is the reason for surging car thefts and a spike in break-in offences, the police union says.
The Queensland Police Union has warned there will be deaths on the streets due to a chronically understaffed police force if nothing is done to stop overworked and stressed officers quitting law enforcement in “droves”.
This week there were 191 full time equivalent positions allocated to the Cairns Police Station.
However on Friday there were only 155 officers on the roster in a 23 per cent reduction in actual boots on the ground.
It’s understood officers on the roster in Edmonton are significantly down on 31 positions that were funded in 2023.
Visiting Cairns on Friday Queensland Police Union president Shane Prior said a significant weakening of the police strength was a major reason for increasing property crime throughout Cairns.
He said an avalanche of time consuming and complicated DV jobs was pushing frazzled cops out of law enforcement and had a flow-on effect of longer job lists and increased wait times.
“The community will suffer,” he said.
“We have less numbers, we’ve got less people to go to jobs, and when we’ve got a scenario where police are expected to be the clearing house of all society’s woes, then we’ve got the perfect recipe of disaster.”
According to Queensland Police data from the Cairns local government area, there has been a steady increase of break-ins and cars stolen in the past four months.
In June 214 unlawful entry offences were logged, but the number jumped to 289 in July, 370 in August, however there was a reduction to 337 offences in September.
Stolen car offences followed a similar upward trend from 62 offences in July, 75 offences in August to 103 offences in September.
The recent spike follows an 11.5 per cent decrease in juvenile offending during the first half of 2023 throughout the Far North, according to government data.
Specialist officers trained in the use of remotely activated tyre deflation devices being seconded to fill vacant Cape York positions, specifically in Aurukun, have meant officers from the Tactical Crime Squad have not been on deck in Cairns to stop youths joy-riding in stolen cars.
“They send out emails every week to ask if officers want to go up there (to Cape York,) sometimes you go out (on a job) and there are no TCS guys around,” one police insider said.
While staffing of remote Cape stations remained a challenge Mr Prior said the underlying issue was officers leaving the force due to mammoth domestic violence workloads.
“We fear that someone is going to get killed unless we address this issue, we have staff shortages, and we need to keep the police that we have got now, and we have to do that through a retention program,” he said.
“We have people leaving this job in droves, and I understand why, they’re tired, they’re stressed.
“Just this week we had police called to a domestic and family violence (job) for two 11-year-old fighting and it took that crew three hours to clear that job.”
Union boss Mr Prior said a third of the Cairns police strength being first year constables was also a major concern.
“That leaves two thirds to train to train the other two thirds, that is stressful,” he said.
Ahead of the upcoming state election, Mr Prior urged major parties to address the Queensland Police Service staff retention crisis and reform domestic and family violence laws.
“We cannot keep doing what we’re doing,” he said.
“Other government agencies need to step up and do something about it and help us.”
Queensland Police cited “operational safety” as a reason for declining to provide officer numbers.
“The true reflection of staffing resources cannot be assessed by the number of general duties staff at one particular station,” a spokeswoman said.
“Across the service, a borderless model of policing has been implemented, making our workforce more agile and adaptable.”
More Coverage
Originally published as Queensland Police Union calls for action to address officers leaving the job in ‘droves’
Band shows why they’re top brass in state titles
A Cairns band have shown they’re top brass after taking out three state titles in the span of six weeks.
Far North residents split on oral health responsibility
Cairns residents are divided on a decade long oral health decision, should fluoride be added back into the city’s water supply, find out the survey result breakdown here.