NSW: Police officers leaving the force in droves: Opposition

AAP General News (Australia)
04-15-2008
NSW: Police officers leaving the force in droves: Opposition

SYDNEY, April 15 AAP - Too many officers are quitting the NSW police force, leaving
morale at an all-time low, the state opposition says.

Opposition police spokesman Mike Gallacher said the NSW police website showed 103 police
officers had left the force in February - the largest exodus since July 2007.

"It was bad enough when 711 officers left in 11 months last year - but now we have
more than 100 in a single month," he told reporters.

"Within their own organisation, within the NSW Police Force, morale is rock bottom."

Policing property theft had been made more difficult because of the exodus, Mr Gallacher said.

"When you have got in excess of 700 to 800 police a year walking out the door, it really
does make it very, very difficult for those who remain to provide that necessary thin
blue line to get in the face of criminals," he said.

"I think it's going to be very difficult for the NSW Police Force to provide a level
of security that people are expecting in parking areas ... throughout NSW when you've
got cops walking out the door, never to return."

Police Minister David Campbell said figures showed the NSW government continued to
give police the numbers and powers to "drive down crime".

It was a shame the opposition did not support the police force, Mr Campbell said.

"The biggest critics of the NSW Police Force ... is the NSW opposition," he told reporters.

AAP eb/wjf/maur/bwl

KEYWORD: POLICE NSW

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