Chief Minister reveals government to spend $20 million to hire 131 extra cops, staff, and buy vehicles
THE NT Government will spend $20 million to hire more than a hundred extra police officers, support staff, and buy more vehicles in a bid to bolster the Territory’s border control capabilities.
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THE NT Government will spend $20 million to hire more than a hundred extra police officers, support staff, and buy more vehicles in a bid to bolster the Territory’s border control capabilities.
Chief Minister Michael Gunner has today announced the multimillion-dollar investment will result in the recruitment of 66 additional frontline constables, 30 Aboriginal Liaison Officers (ALO), 10 Aboriginal Community Police Officers, and 25 support staff including policy and administrative support, college support and additional welfare support for officers.
Recruitment will begin immediately according to the NT Government, with a constable squad due to commence in coming weeks.
The first ALO squad will start in October.
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An additional 20 vehicles will also be purchased and deployed across the Territory to assist with operational requirements.
The announcement comes two days before the NT Government is due to reveal the “grim” state of the Territory’s finances.
The purpose of the extra hiring is to “protect the NT’s borders and keep Territorians safe during the COVID-19 pandemic”, with the government saying it is unknown how long coronavirus will last.
“From protecting our borders, to quarantine supervision and compliance checks, COVID-19 has seen our police take on many additional tasks – and it is my job as Chief Minister to ensure I look after them, so they can continue to look after us,” Mr Gunner said.
“Right now we have more police on the beat than ever before, and that number is only going to increase through the employment of 131 additional police and support staff – making our force as strong as possible.
“Nobody knows how long this crisis will continue for, but Territorians should know we will always do whatever it takes to keep you safe. Our hard borders will be there for as long they are needed, and police will have what they need.”
In early June a survey by the NT’s Police Association found a majority of NT police officers believe the Government interferes in the force’s operations.
A damning new survey revealed 87 per cent of Territory cops rate the Government’s performance as “poor” or “extremely poor”.
The survey of 500 NT police officers, three-quarters of them experienced frontline staff, also found 87 per cent didn’t believe the NT Government understood policing issues, while 62 per cent felt unsupported by their elected officials.
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The NT Police, Fire and Emergency Services budget for 2019-20 was $449 million, up from an initial 2018-19 budget of $430.9 million.
The damaging survey, released just months out from the election, found 15 per cent believed the Chief Minister should resign and more than a quarter said they were undecided about who to vote for at the August election.
The top three issues for respondents are minimum staffing levels at stations, retention of industrial entitlements and assaults on police and corresponding penalties.
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