Ministerial Statement

SAFER COMMUNITIES, SAFER POLICING

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (14:05): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: This morning, I was delighted to be able to address the annual South Australia Police Association Conference. Over the past several weeks, I have been speaking about this government's plans to build a stronger South Australia. We have made a series of policy announcements in relation to jobs, skills, public transport and investments in services and infrastructure. These policies will provide a lasting foundation from which we will build a strong economy that will bring financial security for decades to come.

This morning, I had the opportunity to release our fourth policy in just three weeks: Safer Communities, Safer Policing. Crime and community safety continues to rank as one of the principal concerns in the community. It remains the foundation on which we can deliver healthy, cohesive, thriving communities. While our communities are much safer compared with 11 years ago, there is more that we can do.

A national report released earlier this year found Adelaide to be Australia's safest of the nation's 30 largest cities in respect of crime rates. Adelaide has the lowest crime rate, at 2,365 incidents per 100,000 people. This rate was significantly lower than the next capital city, Hobart, which was the fourth safest of Australia's 30 largest cities. However, statistics can never quantify the personal impact of being a victim of crime.

We know that public confidence is at its highest levels in areas where police are a constant visible presence, where they make themselves easily accessible, take time to tell people what they are doing to tackle crime in the area and listen and respond to people's concerns. This is why we make the choice, despite challenging economic times and tight budgets, to continue to recruit record numbers of police.

Our government's police recruiting program has meant that South Australia now has over 800 more officers than it did 11 years ago, with a further 50 officers to be recruited by the end of the year. A well-resourced police force is integral to creating a feeling of safety in our communities. Those advocates for small governments should consider this simple reality: we will not compromise on community safety.

Today I announce a new $1.7 million pilot program that will deliver every frontline officer in the Elizabeth local service area with their own personal iPad-style tablet. If successful, it will be part of a long-term mobility strategy that will see all frontline officers issued with iPad-style tablets, the rationalisation of desktop computers in stations and static in-vehicle mobile data terminals.

The trial will complement other technology currently being trialled or rolled out, including smartphones for foot and mounted patrols, mobile fingerprint scanners and automatic numberplate recognition. It will also complement Program Shield, which is this government's response to replace SAPOL's ageing IT system; in fact, the new IT system went live today.

I know that many things get in the way of our police doing the job they signed up to do. I know that, if these obstacles were removed, they would spend more time actually policing. Introducing the mobile technology will enable frontline officers to carry out job-critical tasks in their communities rather than losing time returning to the station to complete their work. Fully deployed, the increase in productivity for all officers allocated a tablet is estimated to be 366 hours per day. This is equivalent to deploying approximately 64 additional sworn officers.

The policy also outlined a number of reforms to reduce and eliminate harm caused by firearm crime and increase public safety. While firearm-related crime is only a small proportion of all recorded crime in South Australia, each incident involving a firearm has a serious impact on our community. The reforms recommended by SAPOL include a new indictable offence for traffic in firearms, with a maximum penalty of imprisonment for 20 years.

They also provide our police with greater search powers and the authority to seize equipment used in the manufacturing and altering of firearm parts, tougher penalties for reactivating a deactivated firearm and a new aggravated offence for possessing a loaded firearm.

The policy also provides for new protections for our police. When, in the course of duty, officers are spat on, bitten or otherwise assaulted in a way involving exchange of bodily fluids, it is patently unfair that under current laws it is the assaulted police officer and not the offender who must be tested.

During 2012-13, South Australian police officers were exposed to blood or other bodily fluids on 409 occasions. The government will introduce legislation that will require offenders who bite or spit at police to undertake a blood test. This will minimise the stressful experience an officer and their family endures after such an encounter and, if required, they can begin appropriate treatment. I am enormously proud of our record in community safety over the last 11½ years, however, there is more to do. We will continue to advance policies that will make our community safer.