Cop shop closure concern

FUTURE UNKNOWN: Wattle Range mayor Des Noll says it is unlikely the Kalangadoo Police Station will be staffed following the release of a police review which outlines the potential consolidation of single person stations.

By Raquel Mustillo

THE future of the Beachport, Lucindale, Kalangadoo and Port MacDonnell police stations is under a cloud with a SA Police regional policing review floating the consolidation of all one and two-person stations in South Australia and the closure of unviable sites.

The long-awaited Regional Policing Review consultation paper, released under Freedom of Information (FOI), has proposed some single-person stations will under a policing restructure with a “cluster, assess and rationalise” model to roll out across South Australia in the long-term.

Under the proposal – which is still in the consultive stage – all single and dual person stations will be clustered and subject to review based on triggers including vacancy, condition of infrastructure, suitability of local housing.

Demand for police services, the decline of growth of the local community, a cost benefit assessment, attraction and retention and a “Regional Impact Assessment” will be among the factors considered in the assessment for ongoing viability.

“Where it is assessed that it is not viable to maintain a station, it will be in due course closed and the position will be moved to the primary location in that cluster to maintain service delivery,” according to the review.

“In situations where positions are not vacant but the station is closed, the incumbent’s work location will change to the primary location; however there will be no requirement to move to that town.”

Wattle Range mayor and former police officer Des Noll said while the review does not explicitly state which stations would remain open, all clause 14 stations – which also includes Robe and Kingston – could be affected by regional model changes.

Mr Noll suggested it was unlikely a permanent police officer would be stationed at the Kalangadoo Police Station – which has been unstaffed for almost four years – with the review stating “a long-term strategy to address policing from Clause 14 stations in areas of ageing infrastructure, declining populations and diminishing demand”.

He hypothesised Kalangadoo would remain closed and be supported by Millicent and Penola officers, while Lucindale would be covered by Naracoorte-based police.

Mr Noll also suggested Beachport, Robe and Port MacDonnell would move to a seasonal operation, with police providing coverage in the area during peak seasons.

He said officers working in single and dual person stations attracted a significant 32pc loading in addition to a base salary compared to officers working in primary stations such as Millicent and Mount Gambier, with the closures of clause 14 stations resulting in operational savings.

“That’s obviously an economic strategy and that is how they do it in the city, but what they lose in the country is the community connection,” he said.

“They come in and drive in and drive out, but you won’t see the police at functions, or the market and walk around and say hello to people because everyone knows they are the local cop.

“I don’t think they are looking to have a community connection, it’s just a policing model.”

Mr Noll, who spent years 43 years upholding the law before leaving as a Senior Constable, was appointed as the police program manager at Rendelsham’s Noorla Yo-Long Blue Light Outdoor Adventure program.

The program was run in conjunction with police and provides community members with an adventure-based learning experience to develop personal life skills.

Mr Noll said positive, non-enforcement contact between police officers and the community was integral for building public trust and strengthening residents’ attitudes toward police.

“Police will come up with statistics, but in actual fact I think that is quite irrelevant and I think policing is more than that,” he said.

“I think it is about connecting with the community which has been done for years and years and has been quite successful.

“Currently, I believe we have a major problem in some of our football clubs with underage drinking and I am getting some feedback from people involved in clubs about this social issue.

“I have to ask, what are police doing about those sorts of things?

“Are they going to the footy clubs in the evenings and doing checks to make sure there is no underage drinking?

“I know they are busy but at the same time, you have to make sure you have a presence in communities because just being there is really important and that is what I think the police’s motto of ‘Keeping our Community Safe’ is about.”

The consultation paper, which was obtained by Shadow Police Minister Lee Odenwalder under FOI, said detailed analysis of workloads show many single-person stations are under utilised, but staff deployed to the stations “have an important emergency management and community reassurance role”.

But the review states ongoing issues including long-term vacancies, ageing infrastructure and housing that does not meet contemporary requirements will be addressed on a case by case basis and an alternative strategy implemented as required.

“Demand across the 70 individual regional police response areas differs considerably, due to a variety of factors including population numbers, employment opportunities and future regional development,” the review says.

“As an operational principle, larger cohesive workgroups are more effective and efficient than smaller disparate groups.

“In regional policing, this needs to be balanced against response times and the intrinsic value to the community of maintaining a local police presence.”

The review proposes all the formation of clusters comprising of single-person stations, with rosters aligned “to ensure appropriate coverage to the geographical area of the cluster”. Under the plan, one station within the cluster will be identified as the primary station baed on geographical relationships along with “local long-term viability indicator such as the demographics of the town and local importance”.

“A key requirement for the primary station will be the ability to respond to all cluster towns within a defined time period (to be determined),” the report says.

SAPOL did not address specific questions – including seeking a guarantee Lucindale, Port Macdonnell and Beachport stations will remain open – with a spokesperson saying the organisation was “undertaking a review of regional policing to ensure the best possibly service delivery to the community.”

“The implementation of the project has been delayed due to our current COVID-19 commitments,” the spokesperson said.