National data revealing rising public dissatisfaction with police has again put the federal police association at loggerheads with the ACT Police Minister over appropriate staffing levels.
Data in the latest Report on Government Services (RoGS) revealed that the ACT has a lower operational police-to-population ratio than anywhere else in the country, with 219 police per 100,000 people, compared with the national average of 284.
The RoGs report also showed that public satisfaction with police services in the ACT over the latest 12-month reporting period was the lowest across the entire country.
The Australian Federal Police Association said it was "disappointed, but not surprised" by these outcomes and believed the two issues were linked.
"[A low ratio] obviously has a significant impact on the wellbeing and welfare of police officers, along with impacting on response times, clear-up rates and perception of police in the community," association president Alex Caruana said.
"We have been calling [for] an increase in ACT Policing numbers for years, and while we acknowledge that crime rates have remained static or decreased, the 'calls to service' have increased.
"Also, the ACT population has increased along with the geographic suburban footprint of the ACT, yet the people paid to protect the community haven't seen the same growth."
Police Minister Mick Gentleman said that the ACT was a "unique" jurisdiction for police, "not only in its size but because much of it is metropolitan".
"Police numbers in the ACT cannot be easily compared to other jurisdictions, which cover a much wider geographical area," he said.
He said 98 recruits had graduated and joined the ACT force in the past financial year, and the government had injected record funding into modernising the police force.
