Summary Procedure (Abolition of Complaints) Amendment Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 26 July 2016.)

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (15:58): I thank all honourable members who contributed to the second reading of this bill. I would like to make one clarification. In a letter dated 30 June 2016, from the Deputy Premier to the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, it was indicated that, out of a total of 4,816 sworn police officers in SAPOL, there are currently approximately 4,235 officers who already are able to take affidavits as proclaimed police officers. About 1,922 of the 4,235 existing proclaimed police officers will need to refresh their training.

The Commissioner of Police has recently clarified that the correct number of sworn police officers is 4,705, including active and inactive police, cadets and community constables. The following advice was provided to the Deputy Premier by the Commissioner of Police in response to questions raised by the Hon. Andrew McLachlan on 26 July this year during the second reading debate on this bill.

The honourable member requested that I provide answers to his questions in my reply to the second reading debate. The honourable member sought clarification of the time frames that are anticipated for police officers to be trained to become proclaimed police officers, and for refresher training of the 1,922 existing proclaimed police officers to be completed.

The Commissioner of Police advises that all sworn staff will be trained as proclaimed police officers in the near future. An instruction was circulated on 10 August this year requesting that all SAPOL staff either complete the online proclaimed police officer training or the equivalent refresher course. While an exact time frame for this to occur is not known, SAPOL report a noticeable increase in the number of police officers completing the training, as has already been observed, and they are confident that full compliance with this instruction will occur.

SAPOL is also investigating the use of an automated system to remind officers to complete proclaimed police officer refresher training every 36 months. Proclaimed police officer training has also been incorporated into the Police Academy's recruits curriculum. SAPOL recruits are completing proclaimed police officer training during the first phase of their academy training in an effort to ensure that they can become proclaimed police officers on graduation.

The honourable member also sought advice on how the efficiencies to be produced by these changes will be measured, whether benefits of these efficiencies will materialise and whether this equates to less staff being required. The Commissioner of Police has advised that while actual resource savings have not been calculated, the changes to be made by this bill will primarily produce resource and time efficiencies in the preparation of documentation and reduce the opportunity for errors by inadvertent use of wrong format.

This means that police officers will spend less time on paperwork and can dedicate their time to other tasks. The changes will potentially reduce the number of court adjournments that occur while documentation is reformatted to meet court requirements for the different jurisdictions. Savings from reduced adjournments are difficult to quantify and will depend upon a number of matters, including the complexity of charges, the inclusion of new charges, and the number and location of witnesses. These changes will expedite the justice process for victims, defendants and those involved in the justice system and should result in increased availability of police and the courts.

Bill read a second time.

Committee Stage

Bill taken through committee without amendment.

Third Reading

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (16:03): I move:

That this bill be now read a third time.

Bill read a third time and passed.