New report reveals police response times are slower than they were a year ago

A new report has revealed police response times in Tasmania are slower than they were a year ago.

POLICE response times are slower than they were a year ago and some serious crimes are on the rise, a report reveals.

Tasmania Police’s latest Corporate Performance Report shows it took southern officers 27 minutes to respond to urban high priority incidents during November – eight minutes longer than the corresponding month a year earlier.

Burglaries grew 43 per cent over the same period, up from 41 to 59, speed camera fines grew by more than 300, from 2123 to 2435, and mobile phone offences went from 971 to 988.

It follows the release of Tasmania Police’s July performance report last year which also showed an increase in police response times during that month.

Police Association acting secretary Andrew Bennett said increased response times could be a sign of stretched resources.

Andrew Bennett. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

“But it could also be attributed to other issues such as the unintended consequences of new IT systems, increased tasks associated with the use of body worn video, the constant high level response to family violence and ongoing absenteeism from fatigue and work-based mental health issues stemming from onerous workloads,” Mr Bennett said.

Labor Police, Fire and Emergency Management spokeswoman Jen Butler said the State Government must take responsibility for “the shocking new figures”.

“It’s not good enough. Tasmanians deserve to feel safe in the community and the Government must show some leadership and get serious on crime,” she said.

Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Management Mark Shelton said crime rates across Tasmania fluctuate due to criminal group trends and the activities of a small number of high volume offenders.

“We spent our first four years training new recruits at maximum capacity to replace the 108 officers that Labor sacked. And that is why we are recruiting a further 125,” he said.

“Tasmania Police is committed to responding to these crime trends, and works on district specific strategies and total offence reduction plans.”