20 February 2009

New police rostering

| johnboy
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I’m struggling to find official word on this so I’m just going to throw it out there and I’m happy to be corrected.

You might have noticed we’re seeing a lot more police around town in recent months.

I gather this has been the result of changing the shifts from two back to back 12 hour shifts to three overlapping 10 hour shifts.

The upshot, aside from less dog tired police having to respond to difficult and dangerous situations, has been a lot more police being able to get out and about when they’re meant to be out and about.

I don’t know if it works out as being more expensive, but it certainly feels like we’re getting a better service.

It’s almost got to the point one can see police without thinking there must be an emergency.

Love to hear what other folk, including police, think about the new regime.

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I saw a cop car acting very strangely on the side of Ginninderra Drive during the drive home in peak hour yesterday. It was slowly creeping along the verge with no people pulled over in sight. Then I noticed the cow. 😛

dragonflygal11:24 pm 20 Feb 09

Gungahlin Al said :

Have seen them more often at the stupid 60kph bit on Flemington Rd near Mitchell, which is easy pickings because it’s a stupid speed limit. Have asked Roads ACT to consider making it 70 all the way along Flemington instead of 60-80-60-80-60 over such a short distance.
Here’s an idea for even easier pickings: stand near traffic lights and rake in the idiots doing u-turns at them (except at permitted lights of course).

It’s ridiculous along that stretch – I had a guy behind me on Wednesday who obviously wasn’t paying attention to the fact the speed limit had dropped back to 60, and proceeded to carry on and wave his hands at me for dropping down to 60 from 80… he must have realised shortly afterwards, because he continued in the same direction as me for ages, but wouldn’t pull up beside me and looked very sheepish…

cranky,

Sarcasm aside, what else can you expect in a “city” like Canberra? Flashing ambers work well in cities where the volume of traffic is steady and constant 24/7/365. Canberra lights seem to only have two cycles, ‘peak’ and ‘off-peak’. If I hit my local intersection before say 8am, the lights are remarkably fast-changing. Just after 8, the loooooong cycle seems to begin.

Is an extra 2 minutes in your car at one intersection really so bad? Even if that happened 5 times on the way to work – is it really so bad?

People in Canberra could not be trusted with flashing ambers – it would be an attitude/free-for-all fest

Woody Mann-Caruso10:32 pm 20 Feb 09

To the white Mini tailgating me all the way along Adelaide Ave, only to tear off into the distance when I decided to move to the left for, oh, no particular reason: it was f.cking hilarious to watch you slam on the brakes when you realised there was a speed van right there. Of course, I already knew that, having just come the other way. I guess comedy really is about timing. Sucked in!

Threepaws,

‘Uncontrolled intersections’ – Got me thinking. Your sarcasm regarding the traffic engineers only highlights the incorrect interpretation of data they will have regarding traffic flows through a particular site over a 24 hour/7 day period. They `know fairly precisely the traffic flow, but dialling this into the light sequence seems to be very hit and miss. How often have you sat at a red light on a side road, whilst the main road, bereft of traffic, has a green light for over two minutes. OK, not a long time, but frustrating.

At quiet times, why can’t lights be changed to flashing amber?

Oh I don’t doubt that Riotact gets read by the ACT police heirachy, or at least brought to their attention. But from my experience in working for a government department it would be classified as “anecdotal evidence”… whereas a number of letters or emails sent directly to that department are treated much more seriously.

Agree DJ!

Cranky – ‘The constant march of the controlled intersection’ – And your preference would be… uncontrolled intersections?

I can empathise with your anger at ‘traffic engineers’. After all, they sit watching at every intersection, all day, every day, year after year, and they still can’t sequence the lights to suit you. What on earth are our taxes paying for???

DJ – Who’s complaining?

bigfeet – I have eternal faith that somehow a comment here will arrive at the appropriate desk in the AFP system.

cranky said :

Try Erindale/Long Gully anytime around 8am, for some truly spectacular colour blindness.

Have you reported this? I have a few copper mates, a couple who are traffic motor bikies. They reckon that if they ( their bosses) get enough complaints about a particular place and/or time, they will be sent out to check it out.

Proof that even when you are happy with something you can still complain… good work everybody.

With this addition to Police on the ground (& boy, they’re everywhere, they’re everywhere), could some thought go into some heavy enforcement of red light running.

Try Erindale/Long Gully anytime around 8am, for some truly spectacular colour blindness.

It is indicative of too short a green light period, (but our traffic engineers are all knowing arn’t they), but I bet theyre getting sick of replacing the lights thumped by motorists trying emergency stops when the lights are REALLY red.

I bet the same is happening all over town, as frustration seems to be surfacing at the constant march of the controlled intersection.

MWF said :

I do agree with the bit about no coppers around when they need to be there. I am sick and tired of the Canberra Roundabout Game TM. Sick and tired of the Canberra “I know I should give way to you but I won’t ha ha ha” game. Or the Action bus driver game where they wait until you are halfway around passing a parked bus when the bus driver pulls out into the traffic, because they can.

Perhaps you could inform the ACT police of which 328 seconds out of every 24 hour period that you are passing through these roundabouts, intersections, or bus stops, so they can plan for it and give you an escort..

Just because you don’t see it in the miniscule period of time you are passing through these areas, don’t assume that it is not being looked at.

And if one area or time is a real problem, then you do need to report it. How else do you expect the coppers to know about it?

I have had the unfortunate experience of driving into the city 2 times this week. Heaps more coppers about than I have ever seen. My usual city drive is only once a week. Feel sorry for me now please.

Today though we saw a real set up. It looked like a motor cyclist being pulled over by a copper. The police car lights were flashing, the copper was standing next to the motor cyclist who was wearing a flanno and jeans. It was only when you got to within about 30 metres of them, that the “flanno and jeans wearing pulled over and getting fined motor cyclist” pulled out a speed gun and aimed it at our car.

It was funny to watch them playing policemen games.

I do agree with the bit about no coppers around when they need to be there. I am sick and tired of the Canberra Roundabout Game TM. Sick and tired of the Canberra “I know I should give way to you but I won’t ha ha ha” game. Or the Action bus driver game where they wait until you are halfway around passing a parked bus when the bus driver pulls out into the traffic, because they can.

That wasn’t supposed to be in italics! The ninja cops are meddling with my computer!

AG Canberra said :

No difference in Chisholm – still haven’t seen a car “on patrol” for years…..

Just because you don’t see them, doesn’t mean they’re not there.

How does 3 x 10 hr overlapping shifts work in practice? How many days on/ days off etc? Anyone care to go into detail?

It does mean their are more Police on during the day in the middle of the week, but I know that it means a lot of coppers are more tired and less motivated when at work. Also the overlaps seem to be when the public will see more Poloice droiving around, not necessarily when they are needed most.
Their is a very large push with ACT Policing General duties to get the roster changed.
If people think that the service is better though that is a good thing.

proofpositive2:05 pm 20 Feb 09

MattB said :

Is it coincidence that they started opening 24 hours at the same time as McDonalds?

Apparently the Dunkin Donuts store is coming soon

Gungahlin Al1:33 pm 20 Feb 09

Have seen them more often at the stupid 60kph bit on Flemington Rd near Mitchell, which is easy pickings because it’s a stupid speed limit. Have asked Roads ACT to consider making it 70 all the way along Flemington instead of 60-80-60-80-60 over such a short distance.
Here’s an idea for even easier pickings: stand near traffic lights and rake in the idiots doing u-turns at them (except at permitted lights of course).

No difference in Chisholm – still haven’t seen a car “on patrol” for years…..

Though on the McDonalds topic – we have seen coppers at Tuggers Maccas the last three times we visited. Maybe they were just protecting their food source…

As a Gungahlin resident it’s also great to have a 24 hour presence. Is it coincidence that they started opening 24 hours at the same time as McDonalds?

This ABC article from March 2008: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/03/18/2193163.htm?site=canberra

Also some info in the ACT Policng 2007-08 Annual Report
http://www.afp.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/87998/ACTPolicingAR08.pdf

Page 24:
New Roster
Another important strategy in improving police
responsiveness has been the implementation of a new
ten hour roster. The new roster has enabled more efficient
deployment of police officers by placing more police on
duty at peak demand periods with a capacity to maintain
adequate staffing levels while meeting surge demands
for major events. The implementation of the roster
facilitated the creation of an additional sixth patrol team
at each police station and represented a departure from
historical rostering practices. This rostering model has also
provided more time for patrols to apply effort to pro-active
SPS patrols.

Page 67:
The new ten hour roster system has also provided the
flexibility for patrol members to conduct inquiries and
work off line to complete briefs of evidence without
compromises to the level of patrol service. In the previous
roster, very little of rostered duty time was available for
formal follow up of enquires or evidence preparation.
Under the new roster provisions, substantially greater time
has been provided to permit a range of activities from brief
preparation to conducting witness enquiries during normal
business hours.

Yeah, I’ve noticed. In the previous 5 years I probably saw a total of 10 coppers out and about. Now I see at least one if not two every time I drive.

Of course they are never sitting there when you see a d**khead who thinks the road rules don’t apply to them, but you can’t have everything.

Vic Bitterman12:17 pm 20 Feb 09

Haven’t noticed a difference.

I’ve noticed this too and have been very pleasantly surprised!

The 10 hour roster has been in place for about a year. The overlapping shifts mean more Police out and about, which is what the public wanted.

I’ve actually noticed the same thing – thought I was just imagining it until you reminded me about these changes they’d been promising. Good to see, I say, though I’m sure there’ll be some downside somewhere for someone, be it the police or ratepayers – these things are rarely without some tradeoff. (Not that I mind shelling out a bit of extra cash to actually have a visible police presence – maybe we can even fund it with the money we’re making by not opening the prison…).

Agreed.

The down side being I was driving along Limestone Avenue yesterday and there were Police in attendance at an accident on the opposite side near Ainslie Oval, due to the fact there were at least three police cars there with lights aflash I had a near miss with some rubberneckers who decided to suddenly slow down to about 20kph in a 60 zone.

In all seriousness though, I’m glad their prescence in the burbs has increased a little.

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