The Police Association Journal november 2009
The Police Association Journal november 2009
The Police Association Journal november 2009
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10<br />
Hume booms<br />
But police numbers continue to diminish<br />
Broadmeadows and Craigieburn, in Melbourne’s north are in one of the biggest growth areas<br />
in the state. In recent years the population has tripled and it is still growing, particularly<br />
Craigieburn, but the numbers of police available to serve the community is decreasing.<br />
Members at Craigieburn have<br />
been told that the station<br />
is ‘at strength’ yet it is seven<br />
or eight members down on the<br />
number stationed there 10 years<br />
ago. Broadmeadows is in the<br />
same position. <strong>The</strong>y have lost six<br />
positions since March this year.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y were 17 members better off in<br />
2002. Of the 37 o/rs on the roster 22<br />
are PCETs. At the time of writing,<br />
13 of the PCETs hadn’t completed<br />
the driving school.<br />
Combine this decrease in actual<br />
members on the roster with an<br />
increased workload because of<br />
the growing population and it<br />
is a recipe for disaster.<br />
Craigieburn <strong>Police</strong> Station.<br />
<strong>The</strong> members at Craigieburn<br />
also have to adapt to an eighthour<br />
roster, following the<br />
Force’s mandatory abolition<br />
of variable rosters.<br />
<strong>The</strong> ideal staffing at Craigieburn<br />
is one member in the watch house,<br />
two members on the van and a<br />
supervisor. Preferably there should<br />
be two members in the watch house,<br />
but that is usually not possible.<br />
On weekends a second car is an<br />
imperative on Friday and Saturday<br />
nights up to 2.00 am and on Sunday<br />
afternoon. When possible an extra<br />
car works on Monday to Friday from<br />
1.00 pm to 9.00 pm. A recent roster<br />
could only provide a second car on<br />
two days in the fortnight, due to the<br />
lack of members available.<br />
At Broadmeadows, because of the<br />
‘A’ Category cells, there must always<br />
be two members and a supervisor<br />
in the watch house as well as the<br />
van crews. Shifts are staggered<br />
with members beginning at 7.00<br />
am, 9.00 am and 1.00 pm to ensure<br />
there is a van on the road and<br />
sufficient troops to cover the watch<br />
house shifts and to put a second car<br />
on the road during peak periods.<br />
<strong>The</strong> van crews in both areas go<br />
from job to job, with very little time<br />
for proactive patrols. <strong>The</strong> work load<br />
is such in this area that Craigieburn<br />
spends a lot of time backing-up<br />
their colleagues at Broadmeadows.<br />
One member<br />
told <strong>The</strong> <strong>Police</strong><br />
<strong>Association</strong><br />
<strong>Journal</strong> that the<br />
Craigieburn van<br />
can spend up<br />
to 30 per cent<br />
of its time on<br />
the road in the<br />
Broadmeadows<br />
response zone.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re’s only<br />
been one<br />
foot patrol in<br />
Broadmeadows<br />
in the past 12 months. Back in 2004<br />
they were a regular occurrence,<br />
particularly around the railway<br />
station and shopping centre.<br />
Domestic violence is a<br />
major problem in both areas.<br />
Broadmeadows has the second<br />
highest domestic violence rate in<br />
the state and only one dedicated<br />
family violence officer. Members<br />
told <strong>The</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Association</strong> <strong>Journal</strong><br />
that they can do the paperwork<br />
required in their sleep; they’ve<br />
completed the forms so often.<br />
And the story is the same in<br />
Craigieburn. “<strong>The</strong> number of<br />
domestics we have on a Sunday<br />
afternoon is extraordinary,” says<br />
one member from Craigieburn.<br />
More senior members will<br />
remember when the 251 supervisor<br />
always had a driver and was<br />
available to respond to calls as<br />
well as supervise the crews on<br />
the road. A member at Craigieburn<br />
says that the 251 unit always<br />
works one-up and for this reason<br />
does not respond to jobs. On one<br />
occasion the 251 was in a standoff<br />
with a violent offender. He<br />
called in ‘Code 9’ and had to wait<br />
22 minutes before help arrived.<br />
“It’s just too dangerous out there<br />
to respond to jobs on your own,”<br />
one member says.<br />
Like so many stations, corro shifts<br />
are extremely rare at Craigieburn<br />
and Broadmeadows. Members have<br />
to find time to do their corro during<br />
shifts, on quiet night shifts or in<br />
their own time. It is something that<br />
causes stress for many. “If members<br />
get behind we have to roster them<br />
on for a corro shift,” says one<br />
member at Craigieburn, “but that<br />
is a rarity. Members just get their<br />
corro done, quite often on their<br />
own time.”<br />
A matrix of Broadmeadows’<br />
rosters from November 2008 until<br />
August this year showed that<br />
members had, on average, 1.6 corro<br />
days over the nine-month period.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> trouble is, even if you do get<br />
a corro day and something comes<br />
up you have to respond. <strong>The</strong>re<br />
aren’t enough people to make<br />
sure you can get your corro done<br />
uninterrupted,” says a member.<br />
Rostering when there aren’t any<br />
spare bodies available is a tricky<br />
business. With creative rostering<br />
members at Craigieburn get at<br />
least every third weekend off, and<br />
sometimes every second weekend<br />
off. Those in charge of the rosters<br />
also try and avoid the quick<br />
change over and do their best to<br />
accommodate members’ requests<br />
for days off.<br />
Quick change overs are a reality<br />
November <strong>2009</strong> <strong>The</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Association</strong> <strong>Journal</strong><br />
www.tpav.org.au