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Queensland Police Still Have Recruitment Issues · The Slippery Slope

• 0:13
  My name is Jay Fallon. Welcome to the slippery slope,
• 0:19
  so good old QPS always keep me shaking my head.
• 0:24
  Anyway, let's get straight into this story came up the other
• 0:29
  day. I think you know when you you
• 0:37
  can see that something is just in a shambles and people are
• 0:41
  just grasping at straws. They know something is not in
• 0:45
  good shape, it's not working out the way that they really want.
• 0:48
  They know that they're making a mess of the situation and they
• 0:52
  just keep coming up with hair brained schemes, just trying to
• 0:58
  just lashing out, just grasping, grasping for any idea.
• 1:04
  Hoping against hope that maybe this is the one, this is the one
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  that fixes the problem, when in reality the problem is that
• 1:14
  person or specific group. But they don't want to change,
• 1:17
  they want to be able to blame everyone else, everything else.
• 1:22
  This is what I think is happening with QPS QLD Police
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  Service my former. My boss, let's have a look at
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  this story together. Look, I see so many problems.
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  I just, I actually just got back in.
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  I was on the hallway traveling, traveling back home, and I saw
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  the sign, you know, this the sign about earning 100 KA year
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  from day one. And this girl in a singlet kind
• 1:53
  of looks like she's trying to flex or something like this.
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  And you know, from day one you'll be earning 100 grand.
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  And like I said before, you know the type of people that you're
• 2:03
  going to, if that's all you're going to focus on, is how much
• 2:06
  money you can earn from the very get from the start, well then
• 2:10
  you're going to get the wrong people.
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  You're going to get the wrong type of people.
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  If you're going to get the type of people that all they really
• 2:16
  care about is money, well then wait.
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  You you can't wonder why things are going wrong in a couple of
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  years when you're dealing with officers that are concerned that
• 2:26
  are, you know, knee deep. And corruption Anyway, let's get
• 2:32
  this is I'm talking about all this because of the recruitment
• 2:34
  issue. So obviously QPS, QLD, Police
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  service have had a recruitment issue for the last couple of
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  years now and it is really coming to a head.
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  This last 12 months we've seen we've seen intake having to be
• 2:50
  cancelled. We've seen them trying to trying
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  to bring people trying to draw people from overseas.
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  Obviously that's that's wrong with.
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  Just so many issues, you know, because they've just opened the
• 3:03
  door and said hey, just no matter what country, no matter
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  what ideology you come from, if you've got policing experience,
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  come to Queensland, we'll have you.
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  And then, you know, like I said, talking about that ad for that,
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  the Queensland Police Union, they've done their own research
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  and they said, Oh well, the younger generation, this is what
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  they care about. They care about money and
• 3:24
  lifestyle. Like I said, if that's what you
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  care about, is all you care about is money and lifestyle.
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  You're just making the problem worse.
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  So the Guardian has reported Queensland police spruik more
• 3:38
  inclusion and diversity, but new intake tells a different story.
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  There she is. There the woman who won't admit
• 3:46
  that she is the actual she's probably 80% of the problem, but
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  I won't say too much about that. Less than 1/4 of recent recruits
• 3:54
  are women. With First Nations people and
• 3:57
  those from diverse backgrounds also under represented, earlier
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  this month the Queensland Police Commissioner, Katarina Carroll
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  stood in front of the state's largest ever cohort of police
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  recruits and said strategies to attract new officers were
• 4:12
  clearly working. You know why this is the state's
• 4:15
  largest ever cohort? Because they are losing so many
• 4:18
  officers every week, every week, around 15 people a week. 15, at
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  least 15 a week are pulling the pin on the job. 15 a week, so
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  they can have the largest cohort.
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  The other day they were they were celebrating because they
• 4:35
  had this cohort of 85 or whatever had gone through.
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  But you're losing 50, you're losing 15 every week and it
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  takes six months to just get them through the Academy.
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  So they're still going backwards.
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  They're not. Anyway, keep going with the
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  story. Carroll says Katarina, We are
• 4:54
  committed to getting the right people, but data obtained by
• 4:57
  Guardian Australia's prompted concern that the makeup of the
• 5:01
  major recruit cohort represents a clear failure by the
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  Queensland Police Service QPS to address culture and diversity
• 5:08
  issues raised by last year's Landmark inquiry.
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  Remember that? You remember that.
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  The Landmark inquiry. That happened last year where
• 5:19
  they said that, you know, things need to seriously change because
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  QPS has has some major issues, some very major issues that go
• 5:30
  back to the core of the of the organization and the
• 5:35
  commissioner said yes, yes, we will change.
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  That's what we're all about. But it's easy to talk about
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  change. But.
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  When the when the when it all comes down to change, when the
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  when the rubber hits the road and you see how hard it is to
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  actually change, well that's where it really matters.
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  And that's where they're failing it seems anyway.
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  But data obtained by Guardian Australia has prompted concern.
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  So women make up less than 1/4 of the new officers.
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  I'm not sure if I agree with all their assumptions anyway, but
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  still, these are things that they do need to fix.
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  So women make up less than 1/4 of the new officers.
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  Just on that I I I think it's, I think if you want to get 50
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  percent, 50% women in the job, I think it's a dangerous move.
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  I think you'll be putting a lot more officers at risk.
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  That's that's what will end up happening anyway.
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  The First Nations people and those from diverse backgrounds
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  continue to be significantly underrepresented when compared
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  to the general population. The Commission of Inquiry, which
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  reported its findings 12 months ago, found that a failure of
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  leadership have allowed sexism, misogyny and racism to take root
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  within the QPS. This is the main issue.
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  The failure of the leadership failed.
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  It's failed significantly in the last.
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  At least the last decade, at least the last decade, the the
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  previous Commission had failed miserably and he'd been trying
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  to, can't say too much about that and you know, in my
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  opinion, but I think they were trying to cover up their tracks,
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  the leadership group attached to that previous commissioner when
• 7:29
  it comes to the 5050 recommendations, trying to cover
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  up their tracks, allegedly. Just my opinion, what can I say?
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  And it's just continued on with this new Commissioner.
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  So that failure of leadership and getting back to this, they
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  never wanted to change. They never really wanted to make
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  implement the changes they needed to make implement the
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  leadership changes that they need to make.
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  That's a lot of the problem. Continuing on one of its 78
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  recommendations due for completion the same day as Carol
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  announced the success of the major recruitment Dr. was that.
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  Was that the police service review its recruitment strategy
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  to ensure that it attracts people or applicants?
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  Sorry. From a diverse range of
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  backgrounds and experiences, and from diverse culture and
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  linguistic backgrounds. Now listen, it's all good to
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  talk about having diverse range of backgrounds and experiences,
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  but if this is the only thing you're going to be focusing on
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  and you start losing focus on getting.
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  Getting the right people for the job.
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  People who are intelligent people who are not just there
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  because they have a maybe a propensity toward violence.
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  People who actually understand it's not just about intelligence
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  you need you need intelligence, but you also need some wisdom.
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  Intelligence and wisdom are far more important when it comes to
• 8:59
  that job, and you need to be able to to to be able to hold
• 9:03
  your own. Physically and mentally going
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  on. Of the 586 recruits at the
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  police Academy, 100 and 4424.6 were women.
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  According to information supplied by QPS, only 14 or 2.4
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  come from non-english speaking backgrounds.
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  Thirteen 2.2 identify as First Nations people.
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  The proportion of recruits from each group is less than half
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  that group's proportion of the wider QLD population, and in the
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  case of women, substantially below the level in the existing
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  QPS workforce. But that's women.
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  See where it's at. I think women are starting to
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  see where it's at with policing. If you want to attract
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  intelligent, intelligent women for the role you, you need to be
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  able to advertise to them. Intelligent women don't.
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  Just go, Oh yeah, 100 KA year. I'll get on board with that.
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  You know, come on, this is the problem.
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  They've they've they're advertising towards the
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  advertising to the lowest common denominator.
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  That's what they're doing. Kerry Carrington, an associate
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  professor from the University of Sunshine Coast whose research
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  has focused on women LED policing, said the intake
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  numbers were worrying and that recruitment was critical.
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  To enacting the sort of culture cultural reform demanded by the
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  inquiry. You want the best fit for the
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  job, and that means a diverse police force that represents A
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  wider range of people. It's fairly important that the
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  police force reflects community diversity.
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  And they're right. It is Robert Monet.
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  I'm not sure how to say his false name, but he's a former
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  Sergeant and the first identified Indigenous person to
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  be selected for the QBs Elite Tactical Unit.
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  Said he believed indigenous people did not feel culturally
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  safe to join the organization. I I'd have to slightly agree
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  with that. Inclusion and diversity are just
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  words and fallacies, said Manai Manai, I'm sure, sorry, but he
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  had to say your last name. Who resigned last year when I
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  resigned saying his attempts to address races racism have broken
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  me. Look.
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  He QS QP QPS claims to value diversity of being performative.
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  In September, Carol stood alongside the state Human Rights
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  Commissioner, Scott McDougall, to announce a review of
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  diversity and inclusion in the in the ServiceNow, Carol
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  standing beside the Human Rights Commissioner.
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  Human rights went out the door when the when the when the jab
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  came in, she stood up. She.
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  Showed that she could not give a rats about human rights because
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  as the paperwork that I received, they gave all the
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  paperwork stating hey you know a human rights state that we are
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  not allowed. We're not supposed to be able to
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  force you to do this to undergo a medical procedure and then you
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  flick the page over. However, basically, to sum it
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  all up, screw human rights and we're going to do whatever we
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  want. You know, go forward a few a
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  year and a bit and it's like now she's standing alongside the
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  state human rights commissioner, but they really don't care about
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  the human rights. And what I will say about this,
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  this chap, this indigenous chap, former Sergeant talking about
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  he, you know, he'd attempted to address racism.
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  He says that it's broken him. You know, I I attempted, I made
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  a complaint about a few issues and I thought I didn't really
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  accuse or say it was racism, but I did.
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  Raised the question why certain things had happened to me, or
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  why things had kept getting shut down towards me, and yet other
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  people would do exactly the same thing.
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  Or they they put forward their the exact same idea.
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  And hey, that was all. It was all loaded.
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  Yep, that's a great idea. And yet when I put forward the
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  idea or something completely shut down.
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  And that happened several times. But I was just told, well, hey.
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  You didn't, you didn't make a complaint at the time.
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  Therefore it's your fault. You sit there going, wow, I
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  didn't really feel comfortable making the complaint at the
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  time. And, you know, it was one thing.
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  And then when And I thought, oh, maybe it's just me, It's just
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  the way it goes. And then when another thing
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  happens, you go, oh, OK, that's a bit coincidental.
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  And then when another thing happens, you go, oh, OK, come
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  on. But by then it's like, oh, no,
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  you should have made the complaint.
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  Then it's your fault, Jason. So I I I get what he means when
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  he says you know, he's he's attempted to address racism.
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  Other things that you attempt to I attempted to address and it
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  just kept you kept getting shut down and you're like, it does,
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  it breaks you after all, and you just think, well anyway.
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  In response to questions from Guardian, Australia's statement
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  from the QPS listed various measures it had taken.
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  To increase diversity since last year's inquiry, including
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  holding recruitment events in rural and remote areas, working
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  from TAFE QLD policing program aimed at First Nations people,
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  creating an indigenous recruiting program in August and
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  planning a similar multicultural program.
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  Despite these measures, Carrington said that based on
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  the latest data, any efforts to increase diversity had clearly
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  not succeeded. It's because people are still
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  not happy with the leadership team.
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  That's what they want to get rid of.
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  That's what they need to get rid of.
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  If they want real change, they need to change the leadership
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  team. While Carol has acknowledged the
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  importance of recruiting a more diverse workforce, the QPS has
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  mostly framed its recent recruitment efforts as an
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  attempt to arrest falling applicant numbers and increasing
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  attributed attribution. Can't even talk properly
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  attribution rates. We have invested so much time.
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  See this is the thing. They are losing so many
• 15:00
  officers. Basically all they're trying to
• 15:02
  do is play catch up. They can't address the problems
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  or they feel they can't address the actual problems.
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  For one they don't want. They things are clicking in the
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  head. They're going, you know, we are
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  really the problem. We are the ones that they want
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  to get rid of, but they don't want to do that.
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  Obviously they don't want to lose.
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  She doesn't want to lose her extremely high paying job, but
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  they don't want to admit that they are the problem.
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  And then they're too busy trying to play catch up.
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  They can't really start to address the other issues that
• 15:30
  they have. We've invested so much time.
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  We're passionate, making sure vacancies are filled.
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  That's the problem. It's all about just vacancies.
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  That's all it is. One element of the campaign was
• 15:40
  to offer incentives to encourage overseas officers.
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  Manet said international recruits won't understand the
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  cultural landscape of what it looks like within our state or
• 15:51
  from region to region. That is so true.
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  And you think someone from, let's let's just say China.
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  OK, someone from like, I won't even go there.
• 16:02
  No, go back. Someone from China comes here
• 16:05
  police officer. And you think they want to go
• 16:08
  up, want to go up to Kianyama and be a police officer in their
• 16:12
  first year When or their second year when you, you know, after
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  you finish your first year training and you go, well, you
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  can supposedly go anywhere. You reckon they want to go right
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  up into Kia? Up to Kia?
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  Out to Mount Isa. Do you reckon they're going to
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  understand what's going on? They're going to understand the
• 16:28
  region, They're going to have any thought about why these
• 16:31
  different people groups do what they do?
• 16:33
  No. State government also funded the
• 16:36
  Queensland Police Union of Employees to run its own
• 16:38
  recruitment advertisements. This is where I'm talking about
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  with the money. The unions billboards feature
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  people wearing high vis workwear.
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  And highlight the $100,000 salary for junior officers is
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  the problem. Like I said, if that's all
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  you're, that's all you're pushing, You're going to get
• 16:54
  what you're looking for. People who only care about the
• 16:57
  money. The head of police union, Ian
• 17:01
  Ian Lee, was he was heavily criticized for writing an
• 17:04
  opinion piece opposing the state's moves to treaty.
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  Who cares what his thoughts on treaty are?
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  And he goes on to say, So we went to young people and we
• 17:12
  tested it. And what did young people care
• 17:14
  about? They care about money and
• 17:15
  lifestyle. I've got to stop there with this
• 17:18
  rubbish. Like I said, this is the
• 17:19
  problem. If all you're going to do is
• 17:21
  advertise and try and get people who only care about money and
• 17:23
  lifestyle, that's what you're going to get people who only
• 17:26
  care about money and lifestyle. In a couple of years time,
• 17:29
  you're going to wonder why you've got this trouble with
• 17:31
  officers who seem to have a penchant for doing little
• 17:36
  things, naughty things, on the side.
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  You're going to wonder why complaints have gone up.
• 17:41
  Harassment complaints have gone up.
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  You're going to wonder why people are making complaints
• 17:45
  because they see favoritism towards certain people and yet
• 17:49
  they do the same thing and they get busted on it.
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  These are the kinds of things that happen when you when when
• 17:56
  you're trying to go for the lowest common denominator.
• 17:59
  You're just looking for people who just want money and it's,
• 18:04
  you know, they do need more diversity in that and some
• 18:06
  things. But if all you're going to do is
• 18:09
  just focus on diversity just for the sake of diversity, it's just
• 18:14
  going to bring a bit more problems.
• 18:17
  But like I said at the end of it all, what's, you know, what they
• 18:22
  really were pushing for at the inquiry was there.
• 18:29
  They'd said that there was a failure of leadership, and this
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  failure had allowed sexism, misogyny and racism to take
• 18:35
  root. But if you're not willing to
• 18:37
  change the leadership and the structure, you're never gonna
• 18:41
  get rid of this problem. But hey, what would I know?
• 18:47
  I'm a former police officer, but that's my opinion.
• 18:55
  Queensland Police Service has some issues and I don't think
• 18:59
  they're gonna fix it anytime soon while you still have the
• 19:03
  current commissioner and her leadership.
• 19:06
  Team with her. My name's Jay Fallon.
• 19:12
  Thank you for listening to the slippery slope.