A 'surge in calls' among pressures mounting on police, review finds

An independent review has found a "surge" in calls to Tasmania Police across the past decade, with youth crime and safety concerns among the pressures facing the force.

The Role of Police Review, commissioned by Tasmania Police and conducted by the Australian New Zealand Policing Advisory Agency (ANZPAA) to assess multiple aspects of frontline policing in the state, was released today

Around 200 officers and policing partners contributed to the review through surveys and interviews conducted last year.

The review found the number of dispatch incidents per year across the state has risen by more than 40,000 over the past decade, with safety and family-related dispatch incidents more than doubling.

In 2023-24, there were 138,756 dispatch incidents in Tasmania.

It found disturbance calls "often involving arguments" are now the most frequent incident type handled by frontline officers, with the number of family violence incidents growing by 250 per cent over the past decade.

Commissioner Donna Adams said the review highlights where "systems, processes and inter-agency arrangements" do not keep pace with day-to-day realities.

"Taking budget considerations into account, we will be working with staff to focus on identifying what can be done now, what can be undertaken over time, and what will deliver the greatest impact for our people, the organisation and the community," Commissioner Adams said.

She said the review's 39 recommendations will inform the organisation's priorities going forward.

Hospital security among extra jobs for police

"Scope creep" was identified as a key pressure, with police becoming a default "catch-all" service due to shortfalls in other sectors.

Examples include police acting as "hospital security guards", with some officers reporting waiting in emergency department waiting areas for up to four hours, which is the upper limitation outlined in the state's Mental Health Act.

The report identified Tasmania is the only jurisdiction in both Australia and New Zealand where police still routinely perform civil bailiff duties and execute warrants for the Department of Justice, which is "not considered a core policing role".

Commissioner Adams said work is underway to address a number of issues identified in the report, including exploring how AI can reduce the "administrative burden" on frontline officers, and providing clarity about duties associated with family violence.

Police Association of Tasmania president Shane Tilley welcomed the review, saying filling gaps in other services would see better health outcomes for officers.

"It is true we're doing a lot of work for other agencies and the key to that is that we close that circle and get those agencies working together with us so that we can have them doing their roles and allowing us to get back to core business," he said.

"I think the government need to be really clear with the community but also with those agencies about how they're going to fund or provide extra funding to be able to fill those gaps.

"Because it's not manageable for police to be able to step into that void forever and a day."

Engender Equality chief executive Alina Thomas said the increased number of reported family-violence-related incidents was partly due to increased community conversations and awareness.

"As we've seen that growing recognition and growing awareness of family violence, it's going to be natural that we also get that increase in reporting and people coming forward looking for help," Ms Thomas said.

Ms Thomas commended Tasmania Police for reviewing how it can improve the quality of police responses, stating investing in early-intervention organisations would alleviate pressure on police.

"Victim survivors should feel like there are options when they're not in a crisis, when they may still be feeling out what the risks are, what their safety options are, they should be able to access services that aren't necessarily that formal a police response," she said.

WhatsApp used for intelligence

The review found there was a "duplication of effort" in Tasmania Police processes, due to it operating with 28 "disparate systems" for reporting and intelligence.

The report states there is a "strong consensus" that integrated and secure digital tools are "urgently required".

Uniform police reported they have been resorting to personal messaging platforms like WhatsApp to share "intelligence, images and personal details about potential suspects".

"This behaviour introduces considerable data security risks as these communications often reside on unencrypted, privately owned devices accessible to family members and vulnerable to loss or cyber attack," the report reads.

Youth-related crime was found to be a major source of daily demand and resource pressure for officers, due to extra legal requirements and "significant administrative overhead", such as arranging an independent person for interviews.

"[Young people] know their rights, they know what we can do, they can be given bail on bail on bail. Youth crime is taking up a lot of our time," one constable was quoted as saying.

In both 2023 and 2024, in 80 per cent of crime custody incidents, the young person was bailed, according to the review.

Government minister Bridget Archer said the government welcomes the report and will take some time to consider it.

"It is important to continue to monitor these things," Ms Archer said.

"We've seen advances and innovations that are really important in this context, with things like PACER [Police, Ambulance and Clinical Early Response teams], for example, which are responding to the changed policing environment," Ms Archer said.

A parliamentary inquiry into Tasmania Police responses to allegations of officer misconduct was announced last month.

The timeline and consultation process for the inquiry are yet to be confirmed.