THE O'Farrell government has been accused of cutting police numbers to achieve budget savings following its decision to abandon the former government's policy of keeping police numbers above the official number funded by Treasury each year.
The former government kept actual police numbers above the official level authorised by Treasury as a buffer against fluctuations in numbers through the year as a result of attrition and police graduations from the Goulburn academy.
The shadow treasurer, Michael Daley, the former police minister, has accused the O'Farrell government of cutting police numbers to save money.
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''For the last eight years under Labor, we funded extra police positions to make sure police numbers stayed over strength and at record highs,'' Mr Daley said.
''Barry O'Farrell has flagged he will be saving money by cutting police numbers.''
The opposition police spokesman, Nathan Rees, said a fall in police numbers would result in a rise in crime.
''Inevitably it means when police are sick or on leave or seconded, there are not as many police on the street as there should be,'' he said.
The Police Minister, Mike Gallacher, told a budget estimates committee of Parliament last month that ''the boom-bust days and the false economies of Labor are over''. He said police would be brought on line every four months to coincide with police graduations until ''a record 16,356 officers'' were employed by June next year.
The NSW Police Association secretary, Peter Remfrey, said police numbers routinely fell between police recruitment periods, and the former government's policy ensured actual numbers never fell below the authorised benchmark number.
''This new government is going back to the days when, between graduation classes, police numbers fell significantly below strength,'' he said. ''That will impact on front-line services.''
Mr Remfrey said an extra 1500 officers were needed to bring numbers up to the same level as most other states and to keep up with expected population growth in NSW of 1.3 per cent each year.
''The decision to allow numbers to fall below authorised strength will make the problem more acute,'' he said. ''The net effect of lower numbers will be higher crime rates and delays in response times.''
The Greens MP David Shoebridge said the government's decision to stagger graduation from the academy ''makes sense''.
''It will give a smoother flow of graduates into the police and keep numbers more stable during the year,'' he said.
Mr Gallacher said the budget included $214.4 million in funding over four years to recruit an additional 550 police.
"This will take the authorised strength of the police force to a record 16,356 officers by June 2014,'' he said.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/change-to-police-numbers-prompts-fear-of-crime-rise...
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