Police rep in inquiry call

GRACE MASON, CHRIS CLARKE, GREG STOLZ Sgt Marty Bristow said the sentiment was echoed in this region where morale was “horrendous”, staff were under huge pressure and calls for replacement of basic equipment went unanswered.

Sgt Bristow highlighted an incident last week when a constable had to act in a duty sergeant’s role on a busy afternoon shift due to a lack of staff.

He also revealed several officers were facing an internal investigation after a member of the public complained about police entering their house to search for a wanted person.

“How else are we supposed to catch them?” he said. The expo will run from 9am to 5pm today and 9am to 4pm on Sunday. Admission: Adults $10, aged senior card $8, children with an adult free.

“Maybe we should go back to the old days where we sent out a note asking them to hand themselves in.”

Police Commissioner Ian Stewart yesterday challenged the Queensland Police Union to “be part of the solution” or continue to “bitch about the problem”.

The state’s top cop said public confidence in the force was “at an all-time high” with a staff turnover rate of just 2.7 per cent.

“There’s lots of claims made and lots of suggestions. But when you start to distil what’s really in there, there is very little evidence of any of the claims being true,” he said.