In today's ever-changing society, the demands on Tasmania's police force are always evolving, creating a constant need to plan for the future and face challenges head-on.
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Commissioner Darren Hine has been in the top job for 10 years, taking on the position in an acting capacity for the first two years during a volatile time in Tasmania Police. Now, sitting in his office at the Macquarie Street headquarters, he has a decade of experience leading and future-proofing the force.
"I achieve nothing without working with a really good team and I've got a great team around me, and the whole organisation is my team," Commissioner Hine said.
"Together I think we've achieved a lot."
In recent years there have been a number of equipment and technological upgrades, with the introduction of body-worn cameras, drones, new vehicles and iPads.
"One of the things that is a major achievement is the mobility. Having mobile technology has allowed police officers to do their job out in the field."
Police officers no longer spend the last few hours of each shift completing paperwork back at the station, instead they're able to take photos, do interviews and input information while on the job.
Technology
Commissioner Hine said the force was always looking at upcoming and future technology upgrades.
"At the moment we have new radio networks being planned for, new information systems being planned for and about to come out, and we've just upgraded the ESCAD [Emergency Services Computer-Aided Dispatch] system," he said.
A fleet of 16 drones was unveiled by police in July as part of the first stage of a four-year, $400,000 state government funded project.
The drones will be located in all three districts, with 17 officers undergoing Civil Aviation Safety Authority training to operate the aircrafts.
Body-worn cameras continue to be rolled out across the state, with 500 cameras expected to be deployed by the end of this year.
"We've actually had a lot of activity in a short period of time - is that the end of the journey, no it's not," Commissioner Hine said.
Longford Headquarters
The commissioner wouldn't be drawn on whether the new divisional headquarters to be built at Longford would become a hub for the Northern district.
"Obviously it is just a replacement at the moment. It is a replacement for an aging police station and it is great that we've got the money to do that," he said.
"How it is used into the future is part of ongoing discussions that we need to have with the community and the Northern district." The state government pledged $5 million to replace the not-fit-for purpose facility at Longford, with The Examiner revealing in September that land on the corner of Cressy Road and Peel Street had been secured.
Mental health
Health and wellbeing is at the forefront of the Fire and Emergency Management Department, which Commissioner Hine is the secretary of, with a $6 million over state government grant over four years supporting the implementation of a proactive and preventative program.
Gallagher Bassett, a company which provides claim and risk mitigation solutions, will oversee the implementation of a number of the program's components.
If we can look after our people better, they can look after the community better and do their job better.
- Commissioner Hine
Some of the key features are an online mental and physical health and wellbeing screening; online cancer screening and face-to-face lung function testing; triaging based on health screen results and target follow up confidential coaching support; proactive professional coaching to emergency responders exhibiting risk factors; wellbeing educational sessions around topics that relate to emergency responders such as fatigue; and a reporting and data framework.
"I think we still have a long way to go but we've certainly moved a long way in a short period," Commissioner Hine said.
"Prevention is much better than a cure as the saying goes, but we've been really good at reacting to issues and problems in relation to mental health and wellbeing.
"If we can look after our people better, they can look after the community better and do their job better."
Capability review
After the 2018 election and state budget, Tasmania Police was tasked with undertaking a review of the future context facing policing, which would consider the changing nature and growing sophistication of crime, how it was compounded by the increase in cyber and digital crime, and how the 125 additional officers should be dispersed across the state.
The capability review is still underway, with the commissioner saying it is going really well.
"We are at the stage where we have done briefings with various stakeholders, including the police association, so we will get some feedback from our own organisation and the association before we start to finalise it," he said.
"It is very much about looking over the horizon, some of these issues will take a generation before they're implemented, but they need to be thought about it."
Cops in court
Burnie is the last district in the state to have police manning its Supreme and Magistrate courts.
Operational police were removed from Launceston courts and replaced with correctional officers two years ago.
When asked whether he hoped to see police out of Burnie courts before the end of this year or next year, the commissioner said that was a comment for the Justice Department.
"We obviously have those duties, which we will continue to do, but we have certainly been working closely with the justice department," he said.
"Obviously they are well aware of the needs and the requirements, but that is something we continue to work with them on. At the end of the day we've still got those responsibilities into the future until we can have that smooth transition."
