POLICE CALL CENTRE IS FRONTLINE

Crimes Happen 24/7 So Should Service

www.tas.greens.org.au
The Tasmanian Greens today called on the Government to reverse a decision to sack staff and shut down the night shift at the Police call centre which takes calls directly from the public, saying that this should be considered a frontline service which the Government had previously committed to not cutting.

Greens Police spokesperson Tim Morris MP said that Tasmania needed a 24 hour telephone service to back the Safe at Home strategy to ensure that victims of domestic violence could get immediate assistance from police, and raised concerns that should this service be shut down at midnight then perpetrators will know that they can commit crimes and there will be no capacity for victims to get immediate support through the dedicated call centre.

“The Greens believe that this police call centre must be considered a frontline service, as it provides an important and immediate contact between members of the community potentially being subjected to violence such as domestic assault, and as such should be quarantined from any cuts,” Mr Morris said.

“Reducing this service to an answering machine that will have messages downloaded several hours later is not an adequate response for victims of domestic violence who need support and assistance there and then.”

“It is also known that some people in serious distress will not leave messages on an answering machine, thus some perpetrators will potentially get away with committing crimes and victims not getting the support they need.”

“It seems that the Bartlett Government is incapable of maintaining its own commitment to not cutting frontline services as it had committed to only a few months ago.”

“Should call centre staff not be required to respond to calls all of the time, the surely the Police and Emergency Services Department can reorganise its workload to utilise these staffers on other routine work and thus make the savings required by Treasury while at the same time continue to provide this critical service,” Mr Morris said.
Tim Morris, Greens Police spokesman