stu4537

Scooter, I served in Leonora, (1973?) they were building the "new" station when I was there. That was an eye opener. We could only receive ABC radio until about 7pm then zilch - no tv. I read a lot of books and wore out my LP's. But I still had a great time - it's totally different policing, especially when they power station closed down every night after the pubs closed. I know Larry very well, we were at Perth Traffic. If you still ride a bike we might have to recruit you into the new Police Motorcycle Club of WA and ESMA (Emergency Services Motorcycle Association). HB - I totally agree with Scooter, I loved Scotland , did a driving holiday all around few years back. I was gob-smacked going through the Cairngorms. I could'nt work out what the tall sticks were at the side of the road, then someone told me. We have something similar on roads subject to flooding but they are rarely more than 3', not 15 - 20 ' like those on the Cairngorm roads - thats scary. Best memory - stayed a couple of nights at the Drumnadrochit Hotel, asked the shopkeeper at the souvenir shop a couple of doors down, if anyone had seen the monster recently. Without a pause he said Yes, shes in back cooking lunch. Good luck with you application, hope to see you here soon. Stu

Hey Scooter, where are you stationed... Stu

Thanks HB and thanks Scooter for filling in some of the blanks. I think it is still in place, if you are working above the 26th parallel, you actually work a 44 hr week, I can't remember if you got extra annual leave or pay in lieu. HB, Scooter got it spot on, it's what you make it. One thing I did learn quick was not to harp on about how we did the job in the UK, a lot of the older hands got peed off with that. (There were 4 ex UK Cops in my Academy Class and we really upset the instructors telling them how we did it in the UK) There are differences but WA is catching up with the rest of the world pretty quickly. The only country posting I did not like was a small south west town as OIC. I did not have a re-directed phone to the regional office and I am sure there was not one single night for nearly eight months that I was not woken up by some numpty who had run out of petrol or some other minor non police matter. I burnt out real quick but after I was transferred back to the city following promotion, I had a great time again. It's a big move, especially with a family and you will either love it or hate it. I'm still here and even on my retirement pay I can afford to go back to Blighty every couple of years and go on a Cruise in between the big holidays. The long service leave that Scooter was talking about is a great bonus, three months paid leave after the first 10 years then seven years after that. In my time ( I sound like an old fart :-) ) we had did 7 + 7 + 7 years. When you retire, you are paid pro rata for untaken long service leave as well. Plus, and it is a big plus - is the weather. I kid you not, we are in the middle of winter and I was working in the garden this morning without a shirt on...fantastic!

Hi HB I've been out of the loop for 6 years now, enjoying retirement so I'm rusty on current issues. Regarding pay have a look at this site, it gives a good idea what you will be earning, depending on how many years service you have and at what rank they bring you in at. Just had a look myself and wishing I hadn't retired, the money's pretty dam good at the rank I retired at. Posting for overseas recruits will be the same as local recruits, they are unlikely to send you off to some remote area in the first three years or so and in all honesty, I doubt that the old policy of sending you anywhere against your will still exists. That used to be because no-one wanted to go to the country postings but from what I hear there's no shortage of volunteers now. Benefits include a generous medical system, injured on duty - no costs to you and virtually unlimited sick leave ( I think it's still the same), superannuation is with a State Government body so is very safe, everything you need is supplied, there are country allowances if you do get posted outside the metro area and in most places Government Employees Housing is available at reasonable rents. Way up north you also get air conditioning subsidies. Local issues will be the same as you have, drunks, disorderlies, etc- nothing out of the ordinary. Cost of living is all over the place at the moment, it seems to be expensive one minute and then cheap as chips the next. Petrol is floating around $1.50 per litre , food is very cheap, rents are fairly high due to the mining boom we have, lots of workers coming from the Eastern States to get work on the mines. If there's anything specific you need to know either pm me or post here. The web site you need is:- http://www.stepforward.wa.gov.au/benefits/salary.html good luck with the application mate. Stu

This might be a better size

West Aussie Police at perhaps not it's finest hour, but hey we are human and can stuff up like anyone. This just proves that WA is not all desert... The Pilbara area of W.A. received 228mm of rain over three days resulting in ‘minor’ flooding in low lying areas. These photos were taken just outside of Port Headland. http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2806/9310570513_8d796480d4_m.jpg I just hope they didn't have a prisoner in the back. So why are they sitting on the roof rather than swim back to the river bank.... ABC NEWS Australia Port Hedland on croc watch Updated Wed Jan 25, 2012 3:10pm AEDT Port Hedland residents seeking relief from the heat are being urged to watch out for a 3.5 metre crocodile that has again been sighted at Pretty Pool. The saltwater crocodile was spotted by two men who were fishing and swimming in the area yesterday. The Department of Environment and Conservation's Kath Rummery says it could be the same animal that has been reported before. "It's a similar size that's been reported in, we've had numerous sightings over the past 15 months or so," she said. "It has been reported at Pretty Pool before but also at about six other locations in the area." People are urged to avoid the water and report any further crocodile activity." Seems like a pretty good reason to me!

Middle of winter here, sun shining, roads are dry and temp is 15C (59F), great day for riding. I'm in the process of helping to start up a new m/c club in Perth (West Aus) called ESMA (Emergency Services Motorcycle Association) involving Police Fire and Ambulance officers. I used to be a Blue Knight but the crap that goes on with that club was just too much. My bike is ...well you try and figure it out. [/url]">http://http://s437.photobucket.com/user/stu4537/media/SANY0004.jpg.html'>

Hi Guys Looks like WA is recruiting again. The information below is from our latest WA Police Union Magazine (I'm sure they won't mind me reprinting here for your info) " WA Police reactivated overseas recruiting of serving Police Officers in 2012, and with the recent election commitment to increase the size of WA Police, it looks set to continue for the next few years. WA Police is a large organisation and has been in growth mode for a long period of time, due to continued commitments by the State Government for more Police numbers. The last program (500 Plan) aimed to boost Police numbers by 350 Sworn Officers and 150 Auxiliary Officers by July 2014. At this point we need about a further 150 Sworn Officers to achieve that commitment, so in the past two months Police Recruiting have nominated 78 serving UK Police Officers to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) for permanent residency visas. They will start in May or September this year. About 20 Police Officers leave our organisation a month through natural attrition, so we need to hire about 20 people a month as Recruits or Transitional Officers, to maintain numbers. Our rate of attrition is good for an organisation of our size. To select 20 people, we require at least 120 applications each month, as we engage about one in six or seven applicants. The criteria we use are the 22 Dimensions of a Constable that you can look up on our website www.stepforward.wa.gov.au. We do get applications from other Australian Police and from New Zealand Police. For overseas recruiting, we go to compatible Policing jurisdictions where we select suitable Officers, with at least three years training and experience who can pass our physical and academic assessments. In our latest overseas recruiting campaign, we imposed seven years of service as a cap. Three years minimum years of service is a requirement under the agreement we have with DIAC, so that we bring in experienced and qualified Officers and do not disadvantage local workers. The maximum years are imposed so we get Officers in the service range where they are ready to perform frontline operational duties, where most of our vacancies currently exist. We also need to draw a line somewhere so that we are not overwhelmed with applications. The most recent Government commitment regarding numbers means that we will need to continue to increase our police numbers every year for the next four years. Our current rate of local applications cannot meet that need and we will likely need to continue to draw suitably experienced Police from other jurisdictions. (Article written by INSPECTOR PETER NORRISH Recruiting and Organisational Psychology. Police Academy Joondalup)