Today, South Australia Police (SAPOL) rolled out the second stage of the District Policing Model (DPM) for metropolitan Adelaide that will enhance our ability to manage the drivers of demand and increase police visibility and availability.
The new DPM has been the subject of extensive consultation with SAPOL staff – both sworn and unsworn – before being outlined to the community.
The first stage of this operational reform came into effect in July 2018 and saw the previous six metropolitan Local Service Areas merging into four districts – Eastern, Western, Southern and Northern – and boundaries realigned to equalise demand.
Stage two, commencing today, is a key aspect of the DPM with the creation of dedicated Response Teams and District Policing Teams to allow us to increase the visibility and availability of frontline uniform members during the periods of peak demand.
Each district will have Response Teams comprising of frontline police officers who are responsible for the 24/7 response to public calls for urgent assistance.
Complementing them will be District Policing Teams who will be allocated specific suburbs and will have a focus on reducing crime, preventing victimisation and building relationships with the community. They will also provide support to Response Teams during times of peak demand.
The District Policing Teams have a problem-solving approach to local issues of crime, working closely with victims, providing appropriate police attention to recidivist offenders and actively engaging with other agencies, non-government organisations or community groups to gain input to local issues.
The changes will have no direct impact on the public who may be seeking services at police stations, with front counter services remaining unchanged and opening hours not altering at this time. Phone services will also remain the same: Triple Zero (000) in an emergency; 131 444 for non-urgent police assistance.
This is the biggest organisational change SAPOL has had in 20 years and will provide us with a better opportunity to meet the communities’ expectations and better respond to and prevent crime, now and into the future.
