Secret QPS documents reveal Far North police numbers
An ALP promise to add 150 new police officers to Far North ranks is in tatters based on leaked documents revealing for the first time the true strength of all 46 police divisions.
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A promise to add 150 new police officers to a Queensland police district is in tatters, leaked documents reveal.
Secret Queensland Police Service spreadsheets have revealed in black and white the exact number of sworn officers broken down into funded positions, headcounts and actual full time equivalent positions between 2012 and 2023.
In September 2020 then-Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk promised to deliver an extra 2025 police personnel which included 1450 sworn police officers deployed to frontline duties and 150 positions allocated to the Far Northern Police Region.
Instead, data shows the number of approved officer positions across the Far North has increased by just 22 between June 2020 and June 2023.
The pre-election pledge politicised policing numbers amid a surging youth crime crisis and following the October 2020 election that returned the Labor government, both sides of politics have made conflicting claims about officer numbers, mining data to support opposing political narratives.
According to the document, throughout the 46 Far North police divisions, funded sworn officer positions have increased from 801 in 2014 to 909 in 2023.
However, shortly before the state government made its policing numbers pledge, in June 2020, the data shows there were 887 approved positions across the police district.
That means the Far North has only added 22 approved positions between June 2020 and June 2023, a significant shortfall on the promised 150 positions.
At the end of June in 2023 there were 173 funded positions at the Cairns Police Station and 173.9 full time equivalent positions — up from 165 funded positions in 2021.
Positions remained largely unchanged between 2022 and 2023 throughout the Cape and major centres such as Mareeba, Innisfail, Atherton and Smithfield, despite constant reassurance from the top brass the service was “on track” to achieve 1450 extra police by the end of the current term of government.
Positions funded by the state government, a headcount at the time of reporting and full-time equivalent positions are collectively used to quantify what’s known as the service’s strength.
Queensland Police Service cited “operational safety reasons” as reason for declining to provide the latest Far North police numbers.
“The true reflection of staffing resources cannot be assessed by the number of general duties staff at one particular station,” a police service spokeswoman said.
“While staffing figures will fluctuate from time to time, the QPS has sufficient staff and resources to deliver professional policing services to all Far North residents and visitors.
“The QPS continues to adopt an agile and borderless policing approach enriched with technology, in which officers are no longer restricted to a static location.
“The QPS is committed to keeping the Far North community safe and will always ensure a strong police presence, particularly in large public and community areas.”
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