Hawkins to blame for drop in police confidence

Dr Muriel Newman
Friday, 22 April 2005
Press Releases - Crime & Justice

A poll that shows plummeting public confidence in the police highlights the lack of leadership provided by the Minister of Police, ACT Deputy leader and police spokesman Dr Muriel Newman said today.

The National Business Review poll shows just 53% of people have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the police, down from 71% in 2002.

These poll results are an indictment of George Hawkins and the Labour Government s obsession with catching speeding drivers instead of real crims, Dr Newman said. A police minister who says women are more worried about road safety than violent crime is a minister who is clearly out of touch and out of the loop.

Brave police officers have spoken out about the level of dissatisfaction within the police over Labour s obsession with catching speeding drivers instead of criminals. This poll shows the public are equally frustrated at the Government s obsession with revenue gathering through quota ticketing than ensuring police respond promptly to 111 calls instead of advising people to get a taxi, walk to the nearest police station or call their neighbour.

Dr Newman said stripping traffic duties from the core role of policing and boosting police numbers was the only way to gain back public support in the police.

I think people still trust and respect police officers but they are disillusioned with their role in traffic ticketing, problems with the 111 system and the thousands of cases which are not being investigated.

People have given up calling the police for non-violent crime such as burglaries, because they know police are not able to respond. The Government has forced them into getting their ticket quota instead of catching the real criminals, Dr Newman said.

ENDS

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