The outgoing police commissioner in one of his last acts has, after a review of their portfolio, determined that various satellite police stations including the one at Malvern should close.
Anyone with an interest is invited to provide a written submission detailing your concerns, issues or comments prior to a final decision being made. All submissions are required by COB Tuesday 7 April, so make Easter a productive one and put pen to paper.
Try writing to
Project Manager
SAPOL Organisational Reform Project
GPO Box 1539
Adelaide SA 5001
or….if you are email literate…
For mine I am prompting him as follows:
1 I would respectfully suggest that this is a move that is probably 15 years too soon in that the removal of a station and face to face contact will work against the current elder generations who are not literate enough to conduct their police business on line.
2 How will SAPOL deal with the many citizens who are computer illiterate when they struggle with reporting on line?
3 Will this put police on the beat or transfer community engagement to phone contact?
4 I question whether there will be any true saving to the SAPOL budget beyond the rental of the bricks and mortar. And this is not much in the context of a $800m budget.
5 Unley has a high proportion of elderly citizens. Can SAPOL guarantee that the level of service to the elderly will not deteriorate, particularity inline with what I have espoused herein?
6 Will paperwork requiring police notarization such as affidavits be no longer required?
7 What about the influx of Asian students into the population profile of Unley. As computer literate as they may be, I believe the language and cultural barriers will see them struggle with on line communication. I have had this confirmed by sampling a few I know.
I respectfully suggest the community is not ready for this. maybe there is a future where this will be, a future when we are as a community literate in the art of communicating with the police on line but I am not so sure. it is hard to imagine a future where the face to face comfort afforded citizens now will no longer be part of our culture.
High Tech by all means………………but don’t remove High Touch………….please!