Journal Archive
Venomous comments about SAPOL are sometimes made by police officers terminating their careers. By contrast, far more innocent views are heard from those embarking on their police careers. Four police trainees, on the eve of graduation, spoke to Brett Williams about their expectations.
The job: through Beginners' eyesby Brett Williams
Mark Patton willingly accepted an $18,000 cut to his annual income just to become a police officer. Most would consider that a substantial sacrifice, yet it didn't even figure in his decision to join SAPOL (South Australia Police). To Patton, the job satisfaction he believed he'd achieve from policing was worth the pay cut.
He ended a 21 -year military career in 1992 after serving with the RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) as a police investigator. Before joining SAPOL in 1997, he worked for the Office of Consumer and Business Affairs and the South Australian Nurses Board as an investigation officer.
Patton, 43, was well aware of criticisms about "the job", especially those concerning shiftwork and bosses".
But despite the warnings and adverse comment, his determination to become part of "the thin blue line" was unshakeable.
"It's like anything," he says, "if you really want it, you don't listen to the negatives, you hone in on the positives."
Patton's brother, a currently-serving police officer with 25 years' service, was one such "positive". Patton saw him as still enjoying every day on the job".
"I had a fairly good insight and had dealt with police in my other capacities for many years," he explains. "I was really fixed in my mind about what I wanted to do, and I thought it (the job) offers opportunities and diversity."
Patton has certainly been used to diversity: his job in the military sometimes required him to travel interstate or overseas at a moment's notice.
He is satisfied that he made a fully informed decision about joining the police force, but admits that he's yet to discover what it's like out in the real world". His immediate goals are to perform well as a patrol officer and operate confidently.
Because of my age, I've realistically got only about 15 years in the job, so I haven't set my goals past patrol work very high," he says. "I'd probably look at traffic work later on in my career (and), even though I have an investigative background, I don't think CIB (Criminal Investigation Branch) is an option for me."
Furthermore, rank seems to be of little importance to Patton. He describes himself as having "been through the rank mill" with the defence forces. He's endured enough disappointments in the scramble for higher office and doesn't intend to suffer them again.
"In about five or six years, 150 people will come out of here (the police academy) all eligible for senior constable rank and all striving for it, and I don't want to be caught up in that treadmill," he insists.
Neither caustic resignation letters nor derogatory remarks about SAPOL managers were ever enough to dissuade Patton from beginning a potentially short police career.
From letters he's read in the Police Journal, he doubts that some disgruntled police officers were ever "that unhappy", given their extensive years of service.
He concedes that some SAPOL managers may be the wrong people for the job which, he says, shifts the onus onto the lower ranks to "run things and that doesn't necessarily mean they'll get the recognition for solving the problems," he says.
"But there are not many organizations where you don't have problems. It shouldn't cloud your judgement or fervour for the job."
While he feels well prepared to face what the "real world" brings, Patton remains very nervous about "going out on the road".
But he has a distinctly single-minded approach, and says: "We've got to go put there fresh and full of good ideas, and hopefully not get too tainted by the (negative) views out there."
Stephanie Cooper, 19, remembers her next-door neighbour "trying everything he could" to persuade her not to join SAPOL - and he was a police officer. But his efforts proved fruitless; she had already set her sights on a police career even before her teens.
She wanted a job essentially free of boredom and felt naturally drawn to the cut and thrust of police work.
I know every job's got its boring moments ' but it (policing) has more exciting parts to it, and that went a long way," she says.
Her knowledge of police work was based on five years' involvement with the police rangers. She learned about SAPOL from her instructors and saw something of both country and city policing. And, just before joining the police force, she worked for the PSSD (Police Security Services Division) on surveillance cameras.
Like other trainees, Cooper had to suffer a pay cut. But living with her parents and having few expenses, she doesn't find it difficult to make financial ends meet. She acknowledges, however, that life for families on police wages is "probably a lot harder".
Cooper has often heard disparaging remarks about SAPOL during her sixmonth training course. During her "outphases", where trainees gain work experience in the field, she heard spirited criticism of the continuing saga of roster changes.
"They (police officers) seemed to think that management wasn't listening to them, and that they (management) were just going ahead with roster changes and weren't taking into account what had been said," she remembers.
I don't know management very well, but from what I've heard from other people, it could do with a lot of upgrading." And it's in management's treatment of and attitude toward its employees that Cooper suspects improvement may be needed.
Her ambition is to reach senior constable rank and join the mounted police. But in only six months in the job, she's already heard that "who you know, not what you know" is a factor in decisions on transfers and promotions.
"You come across it all the time," she says. "You have to place some credence in it because you see it happen. You've got to keep an open mind and listen to what's going on."
Cooper is more cautious, however, about other negative commentary, such as some resignation letters to the Police Journal. I always think: 'Well, is that true or not?', and until I actually experience that first-hand, I haven't got anything to go on," she says. "You get valid points, but there are also other bits that are garbage."
So, despite her neighbour describing policing as a dead-end job, Cooper refuses to be deterred. In addition to her ambition to join the mounted police, she has a keen interest in working with young offenders.
But she won't be venturing into the world of law enforcement without some trepidation. "I'm really scared that I'm going to stuff up," she says, "and that's not what I want to do. I'd just like to make a good impression to start off with."
Donna Sampson was probably the person least expected to transform herself into a police officer after 10 years as a Braille transcriber. But she wanted a communitybased job, and one in which she could have "one-to-one contact" with people.
When she salutes the State's imported commissioner, Mal Hyde, on graduation day, she'll be sharing the dais with a fellow Victorian. Sampson, 32, came to South Australia three-and-a-half years ago. And it was a Victorian police sergeant whose advice to her about a career in policing was "all positive".
Shiftwork was the main criticism she'd heard of police work before joining SAPOL.
But her enthusiasm for the job wasn't marred by the thought of around-the-clock service to the community.
Even though Sampson enjoyed her work as a Braille transcriber and earned $8,000 per year more than she'll be earning as a probationary constable, she was nevertheless discontented with her career.
"I really wanted to join (SAPOL)," she says. "I wanted to be out in the community, and it didn't matter about the pay. It's not much when you weigh up that you're doing something you really love - not many people can say that about their jobs."
Nonetheless, Sampson was "quite surprised" at the base rate of pay she'll be earning. "For the job we've been told about," she says, "I think it's very low."
Sampson's short-term goal is to win a permanent position on patrols, but her longterm ambition is to work in a specialist area such as domestic violence. She also hopes to attain senior constable rank.
But against the backdrop of so many complaints about SAPOL's lack of promotional opportunities and the inability to transfer, how confident is she about achieving those goals?
"I think if you're passionate about an area and you really want to do a specific job, you will wait," she says. "You'll do the training until you can get there - even if it takes longer than you think."
In the meantime, she feels well prepared to begin her police life as a "probo". She hopes to be partnered with someone who'll be both patient and "very willing" to help her build the confidence and knowledge she'll need to face the streets.
And she's already considered the situations of danger and high emotion by which she'll be confronted. Everything from lifting dead babies from cots to attacks by gun-wielding robbers has crossed her mind.
"You think of all these different scenarios," she says, "and wonder: 'What would I do."'
Damian Britton sacrificed a promising career in information technology to become a police officer. He had masterminded a computer network for his previous employer, Coherent Scientific, and created his own position in the company as its systems coordinator
His urge to be a police officer had been so strong that he returned to school to resit year 12. He passed well enough to sit for SAPOL's entrance examination.
A contempt for the criminal element and compassion for victims were his motivation to don the blue uniform. He was in no way dissuaded by the loathing he heard others express for police work.
He listened to other people's advice, but refused to take their words as "gospel". He figured that different people were bound to have differing perceptions of the same occupation.
So, what was the advice he rejected? "Moving around trying to get other positions was a real negative," he says. "I've heard: 'It's hard to get somewhere', 'You'll stay at constable (level) forever' and 'You'll never get to where you want to go.'
"(But) it's going to be impossible to keep 4,000 people in a job like this happy and, the people you do hear from are, as always, a minority.
"I think it's what you put into it. If I want to get somewhere and I'm keen enough to put in the hours and do the work then, hopefully, I'll stand half a chance at getting the spot."
And CIB is the "spot" which Britton, 22, hopes to occupy after gaining some experience with the Southern Command Response unit. Neither at this stage of his career, nor in the foreseeable future however, is rank of any concern to him
But Britton's also heard of jobs being awarded to applicants based on "who you know, not what you know", and he suspects that there must be at least a grain of truth in this assertion.
He's one of the few trainees who, after joining SAPOL, has actually enjoyed a pay increase. His base police wage exceeds his previous earnings by only $2,000, but with shift penalties he'll earn about $8,000 more per year.
Like rank, money is of little concern to Britton, but he recognizes that pay structures sometimes seem inequitable. "You can get pen pushers who get paid $50,000 a year," he says. "The people and situations we have to deal with are a lot tougher than (those dealt with) in an office."
For a police organization to succeed, Britton believes its management must be contemporary. He's adamant that managers need to maintain an understanding of '90s law enforcement at street level.
And, of SAPOL management's visionaries he says: "They've obviously got some sort of plan that's going to fall into place eventually."
Now, Britton simply wants to remember what he's been taught and "do it (the job) properly the first time". "We've passed all the exams," he says, "it's just a matter of getting on-road experience and going from there."Editor's Note: Each interviewee featured in The job: through Beginners' eyes will be reinterviewed by the Police Journal in January 2000. And, through the new millenium, we will continue to keep readers informed of their career progress at two-year intervals.
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