![]() ![]() Queensland has a legislated police retirement age of 60, but Commissioner Carroll said recent legislative changes allowed retired officers to come back as special constables without taking a hit to their superannuation. "I think it will really increase the pipeline into the future." "Within moments of making that announcement - and we haven't done any advertising at all in those countries - we had hundreds and hundreds of people applying or asking about it," she said. WA has received more than 1,100 applications and Commissioner Carroll said Queensland had received more than 300. Queensland and WA are looking overseas to fill the gaps, with recruitment campaigns targeting qualified officers in countries with similar policing models and legislation, such as the UK and Canada, and a promise of fast-tracked training and pathways to permanent residency. Tasmania Police recruit Lauren Hay is set to graduate in September. "So they're trying to cut corners so they can try and be everything to everyone." Recruitment strategies "What we are seeing is, at times, police may very well take shortcuts knowing they have another domestic violence incident they have to attend to, there may be a motor vehicle crash or other public safety issues that they have to attend to. "The police that are left behind - it is fatigue, it is burnout," he said. Mr Leavers said shortages were impacting those police officers still serving. ![]() They hope it will provide the needed support and skills for others to identify PTSD earlier, allowing them to stay in the job.Īll states and territories acknowledged PTSD was an issue facing police and said they were boosting mental health support. ![]() "We don't want anyone to feel alone throughout the PTSD journey," Ms Schindler said. Ms Schindler and her friend, former police officer Alana Singleton, created a charity to address mental illness in the police force as well as other emergency services. "That culture, surrounded by your peers, I didn't want to show them that I was upset by that and I don't understand, looking back now, why that's the case." "I recall one incident that I went to that was horrifying and I bit my tongue so bad, it was bleeding … purely because I didn't want to show emotion," she said. Ms Schindler was medically discharged in 2019 for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and believes she could still be serving if she had sought help earlier on. "Then you also have those people that are my vintage, that have almost 20 years' service, that are going, 'I've served in this job for so long my family life is struggling, my personal life is struggling'."įormer sergeant Pia Schindler is helping support other officers suffering from PTSD. "I think a lot of the young ones that are joining and leaving then pretty much straightaway are kind of going, 'This job wasn't what the brochure said it was going to be," she told 7.30. ![]() "And that is a real problem we have in policing." Culture and mental healthįormer NSW Police sergeant Pia Schindler said she was not surprised officers were leaving in droves. "Often by the time exit the organisation, they are not as physically fit, and they are psychologically damaged," he said. Mr Leavers believes the stress and trauma that comes with policing may be driving officers away. Police departments are also competing with the Australian Defence Force for recruits. there was quite an adverse reaction to police because of their role in COVID." "We did not experience, like a lot of other states or countries, that view of policing through COVID, where I know in some jurisdictions. ( ABC News: Curtis Rodda)Ĭommissioner Carroll said public perception of police during COVID had varied from state to state. Police Federation of Australia president Ian Leavers says recruitment and retention of police officers is a "real challenge". ![]()
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