Former police officer Norman Brennan said he was "ashamed" of the recruitment crisis facing British police forces after Australian authorities launched a targeted drive for British officers dissatisfied with their working environment.South Australian Police recently launched its campaign to attract over 200 experienced officers from the UK and other countries.READ THE FULL STORY HERE
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00:00and giving them cushy jobs in Australia.
00:04Yeah, good afternoon, Tom and Emily.
00:06Yeah, that's what we've got left.
00:09Many good, hard-working, retired, experienced police officers
00:14have left the police service a decade ago and every year ever since.
00:20Yeah, the Australian Police Service have rightly seen
00:24it's not just this country, it's many others.
00:26They've actually brought their boss over to talk to UK police officers
00:30to tell them the type of policing that they offer.
00:34And I'm ashamed to say that I've been in policing now in 46 years
00:39and law and order in Britain, 31 as a frontline serving officer.
00:43I've never seen the morale so low in Britain within the police service.
00:48I've never seen senior management so out of touch,
00:51no vision, no passion, lack of leadership.
00:54The morale is so low that last year, for example, in the Met,
01:00their net intake after 12 months was just 84.
01:04And police officers are looking around and they believe
01:07that they are the aunt sallies of society.
01:10Every time anything goes wrong, blame the police.
01:13I remember the police when I joined and hundreds of arrests.
01:18If they had the iPhones out when I was serving,
01:20I'd be on social media probably every single day
01:23with people asking for me to be strung up
01:26when all I was doing was trying to do my job.
01:29So many police officers now in Britain have had enough.
01:32And this is an opportunity for some, and I believe many will apply,
01:36but they have to carry a firearm to look at trying something new
01:40and getting out of a country that so many of us see now is broken
01:44and the police service is broken too.
01:46Yeah, I mean, Norman, I can understand why British police officers
01:50would want to go to Australia.
01:52I mean, Australia haven't just been trying to pinch our police officers.
01:55They've done it with doctors, nurses, probably other jobs as well,
01:59but picking on public sector jobs, really, first and foremost, I would say.
02:05But, Norman, is it really that bad for police officers?
02:08Is it the pay as well that's an issue?
02:12You know, why would it be so much better in Australia besides the weather?
02:14Well, let's put it this way.
02:17As I've just told you, I've seen police change over 46 years.
02:21I'm still an independent campaigner for Britain.
02:24When I was serving, I was the only serving police officer
02:26that spoke to media outlets like you.
02:29And I was warning what it was like within police,
02:32in the criminal justice system, the courts, society,
02:35that we were losing the public, that victims were failed,
02:38and nobody listened.
02:39Every single police officer that joins the police service,
02:41despite what some public think, join because they have an earning,
02:46a passion to add something to life and work as a team to make society safer.
02:51And when you turn up for a job, Emily, and you feel as though it's almost worthless,
02:56you have to pick up dead bodies.
02:58You have to give the worst message that you can actually give.
03:01You want to give to the public, but you're not able to do so.
03:05So many officers now will be looking out to that hand of friendship from Australia
03:10and saying, do you know what, I'm single or I'm young,
03:13and I want a better future for my children.
03:16And they're looking at going.
03:17And I believe that dozens, if not hundreds, will actually take the leap.
03:21And if nothing else, just look at getting up every day,
03:24that serotonin, hitting your bonce, if nothing else, and lovely beaches.
03:28And the comrade over in Australia, I think, is a lot higher at this moment than it is in Britain.