Your stories
Melisa - Danger part of the job
When you turn up for work at 6am or 6pm you really have no idea of what the next 12 hours are going to bring.
We are the first response to every call, it could be a parking complaint but equally it could be domestic violence or a murder.
A lot of the time there is danger. We could go to five domestic incidents in a night - you don’t know what’s going on inside the house. You have to continually consider the risks – are they in the kitchen, are there knives?
In the case of a deceased you have to be a counsellor as well as doing your police work – you need to try and protect a crime scene and you have to stop family members going near a body. Often at the end of a 12 hour shift you just want to walk away, but you’ve got to stay back and finish up the paperwork.
Community attitudes to police have changed too. We have 10 year old kids spitting on us, yelling abuse.
It’s hard on the families as well. My mother has two children in the police force and she gets anxious if she hasn’t heard from me for a few days. Your family doesn’t know what’s going to happen when you turn up for a shift at work.
I don’t think police are adequately recognised or rewarded for the work we do.
Melisa, Marrickville
John - Pay doesn’t match risks
Taking a dead baby out of the arms of a hysterical mother, being shot at by a crazed murderer or arriving at a pub brawl facing an angry mob with just four officers – when I talk about the work we do most people agree the pay doesn’t match the risks
The access criminals have to firearms is ridiculous. Now more and more jobs are involving criminals with firearms.
Then there are juvenile offenders who don’t care about the consequences of their actions. They rack up 40, 50 or 60 offences with the knowledge they will get a good behaviour bond rather than a jail sentence.
Also police are almost always outnumbered in violent disorders. There have been plenty of cases at sporting events where 13 officers have faces hundreds of brawling people.
Police officers face the risk of injury and even death every single day. The biggest fear on the job is the unknown of a dangerous situation.
John, Parramatta
Stephen - Total exhaustion
Mental burnout is one of the big issues I have witnessed in the area of criminal investigations.
The job can take officers to the edge of total exhaustion. Unlike what most people think; it is not simply about making an arrest. Getting to trial can take years of work especially when dealing with major crime investigations. They entail months and sometimes years of collecting, collating and reviewing evidence. The evidence then has to be put in a format suitable for court presentation. Criminal Investigators are expected to be in a position to be rostered for on call duties.
This means receiving telephone calls at anytime of day or night and dealing with whatever serious offence has been committed. Furthermore, if an investigation originates from this call out; this case is often added to the officer’s case load. The officer has to put aside what they are doing and do it. That’s all part of the job.
Stephen, Parramatta
Brooke - Understaffed, overworked
I worked as a police officer for 12 years before becoming a prosecutor and the thing that stands out most for me is that there are nowhere near enough trained prosecutors to handle the workload.
I start work at 8am, read the briefs for the cases and in I go. More often than not you don’t have time to talk with solicitors or victims even though that is what should happen.
I had a case recently where a trainee was expected to represent a victim in court without the support of a trained Prosecutor. That is just not acceptable.
Prosecutors take their role very seriously and give everything to it. We are the last line of defence for the community. The last opportunity to present evidence to ensure a victim gets justice.
Being short staffed is extremely frustrating and increases the stress of the job enormously. It is not unreasonable to expect fair remuneration for coping in under-staffed working environments. I think it is fair and reasonable to expect that a Prosecutor’s salary is commensurate with a general duties officer on shift penalties.
Brooke, Prosecutor
Colleen - Three hours’ sleep between shifts: unfair
I’m very happy the Police Association is campaigning for longer breaks between shifts.
I work in Sydney but nearly half the general duties staff at my station, including myself, live on the central coast or further north.
A 12-hour break between shifts is just long enough to travel home, have dinner, spend a little time with family, have six hours sleep if you're lucky, then return to work.
An eight-hour break usually constitutes at least an hour to get home, a rushed meal, a few minutes with the family before flaking out for about three hours sleep, then getting up, exhausted.
Like everyone else, police officers should be getting eight hours sleep a night. I hope the Association has made it clear to the government how dangerous and risky it is to have fatigued police on the front lines.
Fatigue also leads to emotional stress and increased sick leave.
When most Commands audit sick leave and put police on medical certificate plans, you get a lot of disgruntled police officers who do eventually consider resigning, to improve their mental state, health and working conditions.
Eight hour shift breaks are archaic and unfair.
I wish the Association all the best with the EBA negotiations and urge all police to come on board and fight for changes we deserve.
Colleen
Michael – Support injured Cops
I have been a member of the NSW Police Force for over 20 years. I have suffered injuries to my neck, back and shoulders mainly as a result fighting with offenders whilst arresting them.
I have basically seen and done anything that the Police Force could have thrown at me. I have seen so many things that people should just not see or do.
I have had five operations on my neck and suffer from bad PTSD and anxiety. Whilst my neck claim has been approved as a workers compensation claim, the Police Force workers comp insurance company will not recognise that I have PTSD/Anxiety.
Like so many other police, I have been a hero many times over and now I cannot even get a claim approved for psychological treatment. I am very upset as I have put my life on the line so many times and now I am not being properly supported.
The police that look after you each day should be treated as heroes when they are injured, not just pushed on to the rubbish heap. Please support the fight for better conditions.
Michael
Sean - $14 on-call allowance an insult
To become a forensic investigator in New South Wales takes, at a minimum, four years of university study. This is a condition of employment with the NSW Police Forensic Service Group and is not negotiable.
Many external jurisdictions actively recruit our people primarily because they are the best trained in the world. The main reason our people leave is because they are not financially rewarded for the high level skills they possess.
Our specialist allowance is not a gift or money for nothing.
The four years specialist study is in addition to all other standard training requirements and additional internal training provided by the Police Force. It has not kept pace with our level of skill or the value of our work. Crime scene response is 24 hour.
Owing to our group's relatively small size we service both large areas and multiple LACs which leads to a lot of on-call and burnout amongst our already thin ranks.
Crime scene staff do not receive the separate Detective pay scale and neither are they entitled to any disturbance allowances.
The pitiful $14 per day (before tax) we receive for providing a 24-hour response is disgusting. It has long been an insult not only to those who are doing on-call work but to their families whose lives are regularly interrupted at all hours by their spouse or parent having to return to work for long periods of time.
The Police Force has for too long been getting a gold level service whilst paying those who provide it loose change.
Sean
Pat – 2.5% a slap in the face
My wife is pregnant and only gets a small amount of paid maternity leave. I thought I would pick up some extra shifts through User Charges to help meet our mortgage payments.
Over the holiday period there are usually a few shifts going with the Sydney Festival and other concerts. I was already working Christmas Day and Boxing Day away from my family, but needed to pick up a few more shifts to meet the bills.
Then I saw a state-wide email announcing that User Charges fees – what the Department charges the promoter – will go up 4.3% in line with CPI on 1/1/09. What an insult – the Government raises the fees, raises the fine on Infringement Notices and other costs, but tells me I'm only worth 2.5% more. They take from the public with the right hand and slap us in the face with the left hand.
Happy New Year Mr Rees, Mr Kelly and Mr Roozendaal. I'm sure we won't meet over the holiday period, but I will be thinking of you!
Pat
Leanne - Protection needed to Keep Our Cops
If the NSW Government takes away or waters down the current police Death and Disability scheme there will be even more pressure put on cops and their families. Rather than mucking around with that, how about the NSW Government do something to stop the flow of staff leaving?
I am both a civilian employee with the NSW Police and the wife of a serving officer. We also have a small child. I witness, both at work and at home, the unrelenting pressure placed on our cops and the effects it has on our families.
Yes, my husband knew what to expect before joining the force 12 years ago, but never before has the job been so demanding. Critical staff shortages and the flow on effect of unplanned extended working hours for my husband means I have to run my household as though he isn’t even part of our family. If he’s at home, it’s treated as a bonus.
Trying to make a little boy understand why his Daddy keeps breaking his promise to be home soon night after night is heart wrenching. He’s too little to understand staff shortages - he just thinks his Dad doesn’t want to come home. Something has to be done now to encourage police to stay in the job and to prevent the effect staff shortages have on those cops who remain.
Leanne
Justine - Longer breaks needed
I am thrilled that the Police Association is campaigning for adequate shift breaks. I live in Newcastle and work in the central metropolitan region of Sydney, which means at least four hours travel time each day.
My personal life is in Newcastle, and as all within the organization know, it is very difficult to transfer to such as desirable location therefore leaving me no choice but to commute. I only get two hours rest if I only get an eight hour break.
This is unacceptable not only to me, but also my partner, family, colleagues and the people of NSW who have to deal with the consequences of an officer running on empty.
I am not the only one.
Thank you NSW Police Association for looking out for me and my family.
Justine
Barry - Action on breaks needed
After working my normal shift, I was informed I would be required to execute a search warrant. I was exhausted at the end of the shift. I, like many of my fellow officers, cannot afford to live in Sydney where I work so I then drove the one and a half hours to my central coast home. I stopped on the freeway to sleep for an hour and continued to drive until exhaustion made me stop again for another half hour sleep.
I arrived home at 8am Wednesday and went to bed. I awoke at 11am the same day to drive to Sydney and worked another shift.
It is the eight hours between shifts that kills me; it is clearly not enough as it fails to take in to account factors such as travel time which given that police wages are so poor that I cannot afford to live in Sydney where I work, are a major issue. Where is the duty of care?
Barry
Matthew - Tough job
I am a serving correctional officer and have some friends in the force, one a best friend. These men and women risk their lives with every shift they do. My mate and I often have a cold beer after work and reflect on our jobs, and I must say that cops are up against it literally everyday. The stress and workload they need to deal with everyday is immense, but they go out everyday and do what they’re paid for.
The government and powers at the top must understand this, they must pay these important professionals and heroes the relevant pay in order for them to be properly compensated for the difficult role they play in keeping this community safe.
It baffles me that the government won’t do this. Instead they want to decrease the pay for such a demanding job. Come on Mr Rees, have a “red hot go” for these valuable employees of yours.
Matthew
