More police on the frontline

Called Frontline 2020, the major reform will extensively restructure WA Police into four, large metropolitan districts, to help meet the challenge of how to best deal with increasing demand on resources.

Police services will be channelled into distinct streams of response and local policing teams.

Response teams will deal with calls requiring more immediate assistance, leaving local policing teams free to operate at a grass-roots community level to solve local problems requiring a more consistent and sustained approach.

The aim is for residents to have more contact with local police teams.

The new police operating model was trialled in South East Metropolitan District for six months last year and is being rolled out across the metropolitan area.

Police Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan said the trial delivered strong outcomes across a range of indicators.

‘In just six months, we’ve seen South East Metro move from sixth to second best performing district in the Metropolitan Region, in relation to verified crime reporting, compared to the previous year,’ Mr O’Callaghan said.

‘Crime is down, demand on policing resources is down and the district has a higher degree of control over its resources than before.

‘There has also been significantly improved public satisfaction with police, with a greater emphasis on local issues.’

Perth’s four new metropolitan districts will closely match officer numbers and demand, with each district comprised of at least 500 police officers.

Mr O’Callaghan said effective management of larger districts was made possible by dividing roles into Response, Local Policing Teams and Investigations, co-ordinated through a 24/7 District Control Centre.

‘Response Teams will be there when you call, the Local Policing Teams will concentrate on local issues in your suburb and the district control centre will ensure officers are best positioned to meet the demand on our services.

‘The bottom line is more officers on the frontline, keeping their communities safe,’ Mr O’Callaghan said.

Frontline TrialResults of a six-month trial in South East Metro District ofnew operating model– 7.2 per cent improvement in average response times– 8.4 per cent reduction in offences– 16.7 per cent increase in prosecution briefs– 47 per cent reduction in response at the top 20 repeat attendance locations– 87 per cent public satisfaction with police contact.