Police Minister Nicole Manison plays down concerns about soaring NT Police attrition rates
POLICE Minister Nicole Manison has played down concerns about the soaring attrition rates of Territory police, saying the force is robustly recruiting to counteract it.
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POLICE Minister Nicole Manison has played down concerns about the soaring attrition rates of Territory police, saying the force is robustly recruiting to counteract it.
NT Police Association chief executive Paul McCue said the attrition rate of police had almost doubled recently, with almost 10 officers leaving their positions each month.
The NT News is aware of the departure of at least 29 officers from the NT Police since July, 21 of which were resignations, two were dismissals and six were retirements.
NT government data shows there are currently 1625 full-time equivalent cops in the NT Police Force, compared to 1525 this time last year.
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Ms Manison said these numbers showed there were about 100 more officers on the beat when compared to this time last year.
“We have put more police on the beat than any other government, and we have developed a robust recruitment campaign to ensure recruitment counteracts attrition,” she said.
“Last week 16 experienced officers from other jurisdictions graduated from training and were posted around the Territory, and there are currently 58 more recruits in the college right now who are due to graduate early next year.”
However, Mr McCue said while he acknowledged there had been more recruiting in recent times, the force was still “playing catch up” after very little recruiting happened over the last two years.
“That (growing attrition rate) is a huge concern for us, and I know that’s something I’ll need to have some fairly urgent discussions with the commissioner and the minister about because if that is the case, we are going to find ourselves in a huge hole in six months time,” he told Mix 104.9.
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Mr McCue said he feared an already thin blue line wouldn’t be able to cope if a coronavirus wave hit the Territory.
“If a wave hit the NT, we are going to be understaffed in terms of dealing with the situation,” Mr McCue said.
He said there were officers who had not had leave for more than 12 months and were burnt out.
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