UNDERSTAFFING resulted in no one being at home at Bowral Police Station on Monday night.
The only 24-hour police station in the Southern Highlands was unattended from 6.15pm-6.45pm after two officers called in sick, according to police, but Goulburn MP Pru Goward claims the station was shut for 90 minutes.
Bowral Detective Inspector Hamish East said four officers were rostered on for the night shift but when one called in sick before the shift started and another went home sick at the beginning of the shift, the two remaining officers - one senior and one junior - closed up shop and refused to answer ringing phones while a third officer was called in to fill the breach.
Det Insp East said there were no incidents for police to attend in the area throughout the closure, but said an investigation was being conducted into why the station was shut. He said public safety was not in any jeopardy.
The closure is believed to be the second in the past month and is symptomatic of chronic staffing problems at the station.
Det Insp East insisted there were no staffing issues at Bowral but officer morale is believed to be at an all time low as more officers were needed at the station.
Police Association Southern Rivers executive member Mick Connor said Bowral had experienced staffing problems for the last 18 months, sighting the transfer of three staff from the station over the next week as alarming.
The Association wants to see at least half a dozen officers re-deployed to Bowral and said the station was constantly running at its minimum strength.
He said not enough police meant longer waiting times for victims of crime.
While there may be enough police on the books, the long-term absence of several staff, including senior officers, with sick, annual and extended leave meant police from outer stations like Moss Vale, Bundanoon and Robertson were regularly being told to shut up shop and re-deploy to Bowral.
“They [management] haven’t got enough people due to circumstances outside their control,” Mr Connor said. “Bowral hasn’t had strength increases for many years despite the population in the area growing exponentially.”
Mr Connor said the staffing problems at Bowral were symptomatic across the Southern Rivers command, which stretches from Bowral to Albury and as far west as Deniliquin.
Ms Goward said authorised strength, how many officers are on the books, does not translate into actual police, cops on the beat, which is why Bowral Police Station was closed for business on Monday night.
“The Police Minister is keen to tell us that our local police officer number is at authorised strength,” Ms Goward said.
“So in theory there are 24 constables and six sergeants plus five out station officers in Moss Vale, Bundanoon and Robertson, but once you remove all the police officers who are not at work for various reasons it’s easy to see the gaps in the workforce.
“For instance, Bundanoon’s police officer is currently on loan to the Academy in Goulburn, so if there’s an incident out there police officers have to be despatched from Bowral to cover it.”
Ms Goward said it was ridiculous one officer, Martin Rigby, who was cleared of assault charges on February 9, was still suspended from duty despite living at Moss Vale Police Station.
“He’s an experienced police officer whose talents are going to waste because of the police bureaucracy; the same bureaucracy that tells us the local police numbers are at ‘authorised strength’,” she said.
“It’s time the Police Minister had a long and honest look at what’s going on in the Southern Highlands and stopped trying to muddy the waters with paperwork.”
“The Minister thinks it’s a priority to spend millions rebuilding the police station instead of ensuring there are sufficient police officers to do the job.
“It’s yet another example of an incompetent Government with the wrong priorities and incapable of dealing with law and order issues in the Southern Highlands.”
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