Record no. of police resignations and retirements

 

• In 2022, 465 sworn police officers resigned and 97 retired from WA Police

• This is the highest number of resignations and retirements in agency history 

• WA Police require a net increase of over 700 police officers to meet the 2020 McGowan Government promise of 950 more officers by June 2024

• WA Police Union Acting President calls on agency to release exit interviews

 

 

Today, the WA Police Union has released data showing that WA Police have had the highest annual number of resignations and retirements in its 189-year history. 

 

The data, compiled by the union using quarterly reports by WA Police, shows that in 2022, 465 sworn police officers resigned and 97 retired.

 

The total number of sworn police officers went backwards from 7,112 in 2021 to 6,893 in 2022. For this reason and others, I do not believe that the McGowan Government will keep its 2020 promise of 950 more sworn officers by 2024.

 

The union supports the Government’s overseas recruitment drive; however, this is only a band aid solution. It’s only a matter of time before these new recruits obtain permanent residency and become familiar with the many cultural and 

organisational issues in WA Police.

 

We know what these issues are: poor pay and conditions, rigid leadership, a lack of opportunity to share opinions and to progress careers, and an internal culture centred around ‘group think’ and ‘defensiveness’.

 

These figures show that police officers no longer see policing as a ‘job for life’. This is a very sad development in the history of WA Police. I call on the agency to release anonymised data from exit interviews of former police officers and for opposition political parties to hold the Government to account for this failure. 

Monday 16 January 2023