A record number of Western Australian officers are leaving the police force, citing concerns with mental health and pressure on family life.
Last financial year 340 police officers left the service, with 60 departing the job in June alone.
“Our people have said enough’s enough, my mental health and family relationships are breaking down,” Mick Kelly from the WA Police Union said.
“They’ve left because of a culture of senior executives not caring for the workers and the members, so it’s quite disturbing.”
Acting WA Premier Roger Cook said the police force is just one of the many industries facing labor shortages, with many lured into high paying mining jobs.
“We’ve got an economy at the moment which is absolutely booming and as a result of that you’ll see fluidity in the workforce,” Cook said.
But Kelly said the mining industry wasn’t the reason an increasing number of police officers were leaving.
The police union said just one of 126 departing officers surveyed was moving into the resources sector.
Many instead labelled reduced part-time opportunities and challenging five-day rosters among concerns with the police force.
More than 2600 police staff reportedly sought mental health support last year.
The union said a group of police officers would attend a health worker strike in Perth on Wednesday to support a push for better public sector wages.
Union officials said they weren’t ruling out industrial action of their own over negotiations for a five per cent pay rise for police.
Opposition police spokesman Peter Collier said officers were dealing with challenging situations on a daily basis and must be equipped with better support options.
“They’re going to situations, crime scenes, which are extraordinarily confronting,” he said.
“Can I suggest to the premier he comes back from his jaunt overseas and comes back and talks to police at the coalface.”
The state government is considering a push for overseas recruitment in order to fulfill a promise of employing 400 new officers.
But Kelly said it might not be enough to balance losses.
“There will be gaps because you simply can’t recruit to cover the number that have left,” he said.