Police need to be released from prisoner and mental health transport responsibilities to have more time in the community – that’s the message from local members of the Police Association of NSW.
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It creates a circumstance where police may be away from their core duties for a protracted time leaving the community without first response police.
- Adrian Matthews, Police Association
Branch officials Adrian Matthews and David Cooper say police spend “extensive periods of time” transporting prisoners or people for mental health assessment.
Two police officers are required each time someone has to be taken to Dubbo or Wellington, Orange or Bathurst.
Those officers would be better utilised here in Forbes, the Association says, as they call for Corrective Services and Juvenile Justice NSW to be properly resourced for the task.
“When first-response police and vehicles are used to transport these persons in custody, it creates a circumstance where police may be away from their core duties for a protracted time leaving the community without first response police,” Mr Matthews said.
“Police response times and crime rates can be impacted; the result being interaction with local residents is also affected.
“People see fewer or no frontline police and this greatly reduces the capacity to drive down the real fear of crime felt by many in the community.”
Mr Matthews said the demand on police time varied from week to week, but it would not be an overstatement to say Forbes could lose 40 hours a week of police time to transfers.
He added police often had a list of “non-urgent” jobs to attend on their return.
“We are the only agency tasked to community safety and no one does it when we are out of town doing the work another agency is primarily assigned to do,” Mr Cooper said.
“Our police want to be available to respond to calls for service and protect our communities – not be travelling huge distances and wasting time transporting prisoners to and from jails.”
Member for Orange Phil Donato said he had taken the matter up with both Western Region Commander, Assistant Commissioner Geoff McKechnie and the Central West Police District Commander, Superintendent Chris Taylor.
“Mr McKechnie advised that it was a matter which he and the New South Wales Police Force would address, however it required some time to do as it would require negotiations with Justice New South Wales to have resources made available for prisoner transport,” Mr Donato said.
“Mr Taylor advised that the matter was before the Industrial Relations Commission and a reply was expected by the end of June 2018.”
“Once a court determines an individual to be held in custody, from that moment onwards the prisoner is the responsibility of Corrective Services New South Wales,” Mr Donato said in a written statement.
“It is a reasonable expectation of our community that police and their resources remain within their townships to perform their essential duties.
”It is time for this tradition to be abandoned by the New South Wales Police Force and the responsibility appropriately placed upon Justice New South Wales.”
A NSW Government spokeswoman said community safety was the Government's highest priority.
“The Government is committed to developing a solution to prisoner transport issues, and will continue to work closely with affected agencies,” she said.
