People who want the job and want to do it right.

There aren't enough cops as it is rkz. Do you seriously want to decrease the numbers which would further stress the force which in turn will mean more cops cutting more corners and taking more leave etc?

With all due respect, I don't think that's the answer.

I want bad cops off the street, absolutely.
That means quit, fired or retrained... I don't really care which.

I don't believe it's sensible to make a statement like that without offering some kind of solution to the shotfall it's going to cause.

It's ok to flap and carry on about things you don't like, but it serves no purpose.

It's better to be a bit more proactive don't you think?

Where do you come up with this shortfall business? There is no shortage of applicants. The standard reply to a call for more cops is lack of funding, not shortage of bodies.

The shortfall would be because of the lack of funding Bruce. If you want better quality policing, you need to have better quality training etc. The whole process costs more.

Don't you think they'd choose more ideal applicants if they could afford it?

Not at all, more money would produce bigger numbers of the same.

I disagree, but even if you're right and there's more cops and the same proportion of those that apply are not ideal in their outlook, that still means there's more good cops than there were before.

The point I'm making is that the system is flawed and cops don't get enough support or funding or anything else to make their lives easier. You have to acknowledge that those circumstances are likely to cause even the good cops to go bad. A person can only take so much before they give up and take the easy route - in many cases.

It'd be interesting to know what the actual breakdown of the funding is for recruitment. Perhaps the majority of the applicants don't even pass the phsyc tests even though there are still people with bad attitudes in the force.

It's a fairly comprehensive process to get into the police force over here and yet we still have undesirables wearing a badge too. Recruiting new cops is not so easy over here. They seem to be having a lot of trouble getting people interested. Particularly the sort of people they'd like to have walking the beat. Our forces also suffer from a lack of funding along with internal corruption etc. No system is perfect that's for sure.

Being more opportunistic would be to take the policing of the police out of their own hands and make the punishment of severe infractions much more aggressive.

Mostly true, but keep in mind it takes MUCH longer to become an electrician or plumber than it does to become a police officer. (Ok, the police are getting full-time specialist training, and the tradesmen are mostly building up on-the-job apprenticeship skills).

And I find it most amusing to hear a Queenslander saying that police are underpaid. :) There used to be a solution for that ... ;) But seriously, that was a perfect example of police being underpaid, and so good police not joining or staying in the job, and bad cops taking matters into their own hands. Pay em well.
More money doesn't just mean more police of the same standard, it means better paid, better trained police, and the better pay *should* attract more high-quality candidates. Should.

I couldn't agree more Zen...and yeah, it's funny now what the QLD police used to be like, but it wasn't too amuzing back then.

My brother actually went to uni with Tony Fitzgeralds son during the enquiry. He said the security for going over there to study was crazy. (apparently there were a few peeps who wanted to top them all off strangely enough)