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Opposition blasts detective shortage in Rockingham

Vanessa SchmittWeekend Kwinana Courier

Ms Roberts said there were almost 50 detective positions vacant across Perth, with Rockingham one of the worst affected detective units.

She said Police Minister Liza Harvey had failed to protect the community, with crime rising due to a big shortage of police detectives.

“It’s no wonder crime in Perth is rising and offenders are going unpunished with our police under such extreme workloads,” Ms Roberts said.

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“The Liberals think talking tough is enough but it’s useless if you can’t catch offenders in the first place.

“As a former police minister, I’ve never known the vacancy rate for detectives to blow out by so much.

“Detectives are the police who go out and investigate crimes and track down the crims.

“Unfortunately, under Liza Harvey and the Liberals, more and more crimes are going unsolved and the criminals are getting away with it.”

Police Minister Liza Harvey said she did not believe there was a problem with detective vacancies.

“Tenure is sometimes not a seamless transition,” she said.

Mrs Harvey said more detectives were being trained.

There are about 160 police officers going through a training process to qualify for detective positions.

Mrs Harvey said the police were doing a good job.