MLA looks at police resourcing

Vasse MLA Libby Mettam will push to divert police resources from hospital transfers and extend the work of prison guards as part of measures to mitigate the officer shortage at Busselton.

Ms Mettam said after recent meetings with local police she would write to Police Minister Liza Harvey with recommendations for using police resources better.

“(I’ll raise) issues such as diverting police away from hospital transfers, and extending the work of Serco prison guards from Bunbury to Busselton as well as addressing the seasonal needs of police resourcing to take into account the significant population growth in the electorate during peak periods,” she said.

Busselton police Senior Sergeant Steve Principe said because Busselton Hospital did not have a secured ward, officers, on average, conducted one hospital escort a week to Bunbury, which took two officers anywhere from four to six hours to complete if there were no complications.

“In relation to prisoner management, if we have District or Supreme Court running, I think there are about four to six of these per year at this stage and they normally run for one week, I have to provide two officers to the court, one to guard the prisoner and the other to act as security for the court, ” he said.

Sen. Sgt Principe said officers looked after sentenced prisoners and anyone the court had sentenced to imprisonment or who could not get bail after attending Magistrate’s Court.

“I normally have one officer stay behind and wait for the prison truck to arrive to pick up prisoners which could be several hours after they cease duty, ” he said.

Sen. Sgt Principe suggested security officers or qualified hospital personnel could be used for mental health escorts on behalf of police and either the Serco contract could be extended to cover Busselton or auxiliary officers could be stationed at Busselton for prisoner management.

“Having additional officers during the summer holiday period and long weekends when many thousands of people travel to the South West would be of great assistance, ” he said.

Ms Mettam said the Criminal Investigation Repeal Bill had just passed the Legislative Assembly and would be going through the Legislative Council shortly, which would free up the police from guarding arrested suspects.

Acting Police Minister Michael Mischin told Parliament last week the WA Police services definition resource model process was examining regional police officer staffing, including the Busselton police station.

Click here to go mobile with iNFOGO - local everywhere