Clover’s cop call

Efforts to curb homophobic violence on Oxford Street are being jeopardised by chronic staffing shortages at Surry Hills Police, independent MP Clover Moore, ACON and a police trade union have claimed.

A letter sent by Moore to NSW police minister John Watkins this week said Surry Hills Police had about 180 officers out of an authorised 203 every month since June last year.

I understand that staffing in December was again only 177 officers out of the 203 authorised, a significant deficit, Moore wrote.

Community members have told me that an additional 14 officers will be recruited from the next intake of graduates; however, this will still leave Surry Hills at least 12 officers short of the authorised staffing.

I am concerned that Surry Hills Command has been understaffed for some time, and therefore cannot proactively tackle crime or respond to complex local demands such as homophobic violence.

Reduced staffing also threatens the successful High Visibility Policing policy, which provided for a visible street presence in identified -˜hot spot’ areas such as Oxford Street.

A draft Oxford Street safety strategy devised by the City of Sydney with the backing of police, ACON and other groups says increasing resources at Surry Hills Police is crucial to stemming violence.

NSW Police will announce how many officers will be posted to Surry Hills after they graduate from training in Goulburn on 30 January. The NSW opposition has promised an extra 1,100 police officers if elected in March, in addition to the 750 pledged by the government.

The Police Association of NSW and ACON have backed Moore’s campaign, after a series of homophobic attacks on and around Oxford Street in recent months.

Brett Wall from the Police Association of NSW said reduced staffing levels in Surry Hills were having a significant impact on policing capacity.

Having [so] few police officers to continually try and meet their first response obviously has a direct impact on the police officers who work there and their morale, Wall told Sydney Star Observer.

The Police Association welcomes Clover’s letter to the minister regarding her request to have those positions filled.

Responding to Moore’s call, the NSW government promised to send additional officers to Surry Hills as part of a major new recruitment drive.

The Iemma government is committed to providing record police numbers and will next week boost the police force by 750 officers, a spokesperson for NSW police minister John Watkins told the Star.

The police increase will be shared among commands across NSW including Surry Hills.

ACON president Adrian Lovney said his organisation was 100 percent supportive of Clover’s call for additional resources.

The shortage of resources in the Surry Hills Local Area Command is obviously having an impact on not only High Visibility Policing on Oxford Street, which is important in reducing violence, but also on the performance of the Gay and Lesbian Liaison Officer (GLLO) program at Surry Hills, which has been under strain for a couple of years now, Lovney told the Star.

Despite the recent reinvigoration of Surry Hills Police training on gay and lesbian issues, the lack of a full-time GLLO remained a major obstacle.

The draft Oxford Street safety strategy is open for public comment until 26 February at the City of Sydney website and at the City of Sydney neighbourhood service centres at Town Hall, Erskineville, Kings Cross and Glebe.