SOUTH AUSTRALIA POLICE

Mrs VLAHOS (Taylor) (14:08): My question is to the Premier: can he inform the house regarding the progress of increasing police numbers and any new technology provided to the police force?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (14:08): I thank the honourable member for her question. Today I was very pleased to attend the graduation of our latest group of police recruits. These fine men and women are the latest to join our police force. Since we came into office in 2002 over 800 extra officers have joined, with a further 50 additional officers to be recruited before the end of the year.

South Australia now has the highest number of operational police per capita of any state in the nation, and this government intends to keep it that way. This increase in numbers will allow the creation of additional expert positions involved in dealing with vulnerable victims and a dedicated internet child exploitation team. We know that public confidence is at its highest in areas where police are a constant and visible presence and where they make themselves easily accessible, telling people what they are doing to tackle crime in their local area and listening and responding to people's concerns. This is why we made the choice, despite challenging economic times and tight budgets, to continue to recruit record numbers of police.

I am also pleased to be able to inform the house that, by the end of next month, SAPOL will have the use of 20 high-tech automatic numberplate recognition cameras, delivering on the state government's election commitment. These cameras assist police in identifying vehicles of interest such as those being driven by recidivist, disqualified or dangerous drivers, known outlaw motorcycle gang members and associates. These additional cameras will also see a significant increase in the area that will be able to be patrolled by Operation Nomad patrols.

Operation Nomad, as members would be aware, is the surveillance exercise that is carried on to ensure that people who we believe may be at risk of starting fires, especially during high risk times, are tracked to ensure that they do not engage in that behaviour. We hope that the expanded use of this technology will increase the chances of police interrupting arson suspects and prevent them deliberately lighting fires and creating a massive risk to the South Australian community.

This government remains committed to providing police not only with the cutting edge technology such as tablet computers that we announced earlier this week and also the unmanned aerial vehicles, but also the most effective of all measures, and that is good old-fashioned police on the ground interacting with the community, making people feel safe, and also the exchange of information in ways that make a massive contribution to ensuring our community is safe.