The union is calling for unvaccinated officers to be allowed back on the beat, as well as those deemed close COVID contacts to be able to continue working if they do not have symptoms.
“We need police back on the frontline – we don’t need them acting as proxy SA Health workers any longer,” Carroll says.
The Police Association president says he has spent “almost my entire adult life in and around policing”, and “never before have I witnessed the extent of police officer shortages that are afflicting SAPOL right now”.
“Last October, Commissioner Grant Stevens issued a direction for all SAPOL employees to receive COVID-19 vaccinations – he did not hand down this direction as the state’s police chief, he issued it under the auspices of the Emergency Management Act — wielding the health powers vested in him as the state’s COVID-19 coordinator,” Carroll says.
“At the time, I wrote to the commissioner, requesting the specific government health advice which underpinned this direction… I assumed it would be clearly evident, and immediately available on request.
“This advice, however, has not been forthcoming.”
Carroll says, however, that two of the stated purposes for the direction were to minimise disruption to police services due to the potential spread of COVID-19 among officers, and to offset the prospect of them being furloughed due to possible exposure to the virus.
Nonetheless, he argues, “at one stage last month, with the order in full effect, there were 335 members — all fully vaccinated — in quarantine”.
He argues that xjmtzywtogether with around 200 members who remain stood down, as well as between 200 and 300 members re-directed to COVID-related duties, “the situation has sent SAPOL into a full-blown staffing crisis”, with police “scrambling to cover critical frontline shortages”.
The SA Police force currently numbers around 4700, meaning last month saw more than 10 per cent of the workforce out of circulation, with another five per cent re-assigned to COVID duties.
“A disturbing reality is that many members have informed me there is no longer enough officers to perform proactive police work and target recidivist offenders – in fact, the information coming to me shows this function has not been performed for some considerable time,” Carroll says.
“On the police front line, we know there are risks to the community when recidivist offenders are no longer the target of proactive police work… the public is seeing the effects of this every day, with frequent news reports of violent knife and gun crimes.
“It all brings into question SAPOL’s ability to wield effective control over crime in the current climate.”
