{"id":39695,"date":"2018-06-04T12:30:42","date_gmt":"2018-06-04T02:30:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=39695"},"modified":"2018-06-04T12:00:17","modified_gmt":"2018-06-04T02:00:17","slug":"unkind-cuts-will-hinder-police-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/unkind-cuts-will-hinder-police-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Unkind cuts will hinder police work"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

In February, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner, Andrew Colvin, told the Senate\u2019s Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee that he faced a supply and demand challenge<\/a> at a time of budget cuts. \u2018The demand for our services is increasing, the crime environment is increasing, and like any police commissioner I have to make sure that I appoint my resources as best I can against that demand,\u2019 Commissioner Colvin said.<\/p>\n

This week Colvin provided further frank and fearless advice to the committee. The $204\u00a0million being cut from his budget<\/a> by efficiency dividends over the next four years may result in the scaling back of enforcement activities targeted at gangs, drugs and corruption. He said he wouldn\u2019t assume that there\u2019d be a reduction in crime rates, but there\u2019d be changes in the types of crimes police had to deal with. \u2018And there\u2019s always more crime than we can deal with.\u2019<\/p>\n

The difficult decisions that Colvin faces have real effects on community safety, but they\u2019re made tougher by funding cuts. We should expect better from a tough-on-security<\/a> Turnbull government.<\/p>\n

The cost of policing is rising dramatically. Today, police face a complex environment in which a vast array of new technological skills and specialisations are needed, from forensic and data scientists to specialist victim liaison officers. These skills cost money.<\/p>\n

Drones, artificial intelligence and \u2018big data\u2019, and a myriad of other technologies are also changing the nature of policing. For the AFP to remain effective, it must be able to innovate through investments in technology. But this will hardly be possible for years to come given its budget position.<\/p>\n

The AFP\u2019s financial woes originate from the duel effects of lapsing funding agreements and an efficiency dividend that cuts deeply. Since\u00a01987, this dividend has been an annual percentage reduction in each Commonwealth department and agency\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n

The dividend initially did what it was intended to do: it reduced inefficient expenditure in non-operational areas within agencies, which was long overdue.<\/p>\n

But as efficiency improved and the number of available non-operational cuts decreased, decision-makers inevitably had to make cuts in operational areas. These cuts have become commonplace, even in agencies such as the AFP.<\/p>\n

The 2009 independent federal audit of police capabilities, \u2018New Realities: National Policing in the 21st Century<\/a>\u2019 by Roger Beale AO, noted \u2018a series of ad hoc budget and capability initiatives taken by government, often to respond to crises, has left the AFP with the legacy of a seriously disjointed budgetary framework\u2019. Beale also noted that these budget arrangements \u2018inhibit flexibility in responding to changing priorities as well as long term planning for capital, equipment and its workforce\u2019. But little has changed.<\/p>\n

In 2015 the Australian government released the \u2018Counter-Terrorism Machinery Review<\/a>\u2019. To the surprise of few, the review reported that security agencies had identified risks to national security outcomes if their base funding continued to be eroded.<\/p>\n

The review\u2019s authors provided an assessment of the effects of the efficiency dividend in terms of frontline staff reductions and diminished collection and analytical capabilities. They recommended that the AFP be exempted from the dividend. It wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

The dividend remains, and it has had very tangible negative effects on Australia\u2019s police capability. The AFP\u2019s network of international liaison officers, once described as the \u2018jewel in the crown\u2019 of Australian law enforcement, is receding at an alarming rate, with drastic reductions in the number of police operating overseas. And this can be linked to the pressures on the police to make the cuts required to meet the efficiency dividend.<\/p>\n

Arguably, government needs to reconsider the recommendations of the 2015 \u2018Counter-Terrorism Machinery Review\u2019 and remove the burden of broad efficiency dividends from law enforcement agencies. Secondly, it needs to reconsider Beale\u2019s findings, and make a consistent, long-term financial commitment to domestic security and law enforcement.<\/p>\n

One solution could be to establish a minimum law enforcement commitment as a percentage of Australia\u2019s gross domestic product. The government has done that in the case of Defence by setting a target of 2%\u00a0of GDP by 2020\u201321.<\/p>\n

If the funding issue isn\u2019t resolved, in four years we\u2019ll have a smaller and less effective AFP. Unless crime rates drastically decline, we\u2019ll be less safe as a result.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In February, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner, Andrew Colvin, told the Senate\u2019s Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee that he faced a supply and demand challenge at a time of budget cuts. \u2018The demand for …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":310,"featured_media":39696,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[528,988],"class_list":["post-39695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-australian-federal-police","tag-policing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUnkind cuts will hinder police work | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/unkind-cuts-will-hinder-police-work\/\" \/>\n<meta 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