Rookie: Job’s hard to beat
Far North gets eight new cops as recruitment stepped up
Cairns welcomed eight new police officers to the Far North beat on Monday.
New recruit Constable Montana Watson, who graduated last Friday from the police academy in Townsville, said she was eager to get out on to the road.
“In my little scrapbook in prep, I stated I wanted to be a police officer, even way back then so it’s definitely a passion of mine,” she said.
“I’m excited because no day is the same, and it’s such an engaging job.”
Acting Superintendent Renee Kurtz of Recruiting and Constable Training said that since February, when there was a drive for international recruits in the service, applications had gotten stronger but more applicants were needed to fill frontline positions.
Focus on recruitment in rural, regional and remote areas continued to be a priority, to help people return to their communities and connections, she said.
“In May, the minister and police commissioner were up in Cairns and made a number of announcements to entice people to join QPS,” she said.
“I was on Thursday Island a few months ago and I met with the local mayor, elders and leaders in that community to listen to them but also (with) local police about recruiting people from Thursday Island who want to become police officers and having them back there,” she said.
“So for the first time ever we now offer that as an option in smaller areas such as Thursday Island.”
Flexibility extended to those with unique circumstances. For example, age is no bar as long as the criteria is met, with Superintendent Kurtz revealing her oldest recruit was a gentleman in his mid 50s.
“Rural or remote kids – they’re tough. They have had to problem solve, they have had to work out how to deal with something because its just them so the level of maturity is very different between applicants. So it’s not just about the age, but also the maturity – people have varying circumstances in their lives.”
Recruitment was specifically focused on frontline officers not specialist positions, she said, and the challenge in driving up those numbers was competition
“There are too many options in the employment market so we are trying to make it attractive in terms of remuneration, but also (ensuring) people join for the right reasons.”
The QPS hires all year round and recognises study components from any degree, with the recruitment process focusing on communication, mental and physical fitness and referee checks.
Currently the process takes six to eight weeks.