School's In As Police Recruits Line Up For Class

Sydney Morning Herald

Friday March 1, 2002

Stephen Gibbs

The Police Minister, Michael Costa, believes he has smothered a lingering electoral liability by creating a new school to train 800 police recruits this year.

Two classes of up to 400 recruits each will begin training on the University of Western Sydney's Hawkesbury campus at Richmond in May and September.

The recruits will still undertake their academic study through Charles Sturt University, but will be on the beat just 31 weeks after starting training, rather than the current one year.

All recruits will be given a $100 weekly accommodation subsidy and Mr Costa hopes the new campus will attract metropolitan candidates who would prefer not to travel to the Police College at Goulburn.

The Richmond campus has a gym, child care and room for 120 students to live on-site.

But the Opposition police spokesman, Andrew Tink, described the new campus as a political stunt, motivated solely by the Government's ``mad rush" to meet its 1999 promise to put 1000 extra police on the street by the end of 2003.

The Leader of the Opposition, Kerry Chikarovksi, said the plan to recruit and train 800 extra officers came after seven years of ``absolute inaction".

``This takes the concept of cynical politics to a whole new level," she said.

Mr Costa conceded the new campus was a ``one-off measure" but the program, which will cost $9.5 million over two years, might be extended if it proved successful.

The Police Service is 617 short of the Government's promised target of 14,407 officers and losing an average 64 a month but expects to swear in about 1714 police in the 12 months from May.

There are already 1504 recruits in training.

A spokesman for Mr Costa said the Police Service expected to fill the 800 newly available positions, and that at least 2000 men and women attended a recruitment day at Westmead last Sunday.

``There is no lack of interest in people wanting to join the force," he said.

Mr Costa announced the new 31-week course, with its emphasis on practical frontline skills, during an appeal for more recruits with ``life skills" on Sunday.

Three units of the course, including Ethics and Accountability, Police Intelligence Practice, and Policing as a Profession, have been cut, but those topics are still covered under other subjects.

Mr Tink wanted further assurances the new structure did not reduce training standards.

``Mr Carr and his minister need to demonstrate very clearly that the abbreviated training package will not increase the risk of corruption by reducing the emphasis on ethics," he said.

© 2002 Sydney Morning Herald

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