{"id":231192,"date":"2019-03-19T12:40:54","date_gmt":"2019-03-19T02:40:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=231192"},"modified":"2019-03-20T23:20:47","modified_gmt":"2019-03-20T13:20:47","slug":"calls-to-policelink-not-answered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2019\/03\/19\/calls-to-policelink-not-answered\/","title":{"rendered":"Calls To Policelink ‘Not Answered’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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LNP Opposition Leader and Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

March 19, 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Almost 200,000 calls to Policelink\u00a0went unanswered or were disconnected last year, according to data released by the State Government.<\/p>\n

An Opposition Question on Notice revealed 197,648 calls went unanswered or were disconnected in 2018, compared with 26,555 in 2014 when the LNP was in power.<\/p>\n

Only 3 per cent of calls were unanswered in 2014, while 17 per cent were unanswered in 2018.<\/p>\n

According to the Queensland Police website:<\/p>\n

Policelink is the primary contact point for the Queensland Police Service. Policelink was introduced in 2010 as a central contact point across the State, to enhance the ability of the Queensland Police Service to respond in a professional and timely manner. The contact centre is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. By phoning 131-444, you will speak with a Policelink Client Service Officer who can assist to generate a non-urgent property incident report, provide answers to general police inquiries, among other functions.\u200b<\/em><\/p>\n

Opposition Leader and Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington said police officers were missing out on vital tips to help keep the community safe.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe amount of calls going unanswered by Policelink is horrendous,\u201d Mrs Frecklington said.<\/p>\n

\u201cInformation from the public is crucial to preventing and responding to crime but people are hanging up on Policelink in record numbers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese damning statistics show the Palaszczuk Labor Government should never have allowed the Crime Stoppers call centre to close.<\/p>\n

\u201cCrime is rising fast, frontline police are at breaking point, and Policelink can\u2019t cope with the mountain of calls.\u201d<\/p>\n

Opposition police spokesman Trevor Watts warned the closure of the Crime Stoppers call centre would pile even more pressure on police resources.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe only reason Labor Police Minister Mark Ryan put out a media release this morning was because the LNP had a Question on Notice exposing this shameful handling of calls,\u201d Mr Watts said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnnastacia Palaszczuk must sack her incompetent Police Minister.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe LNP was the first to fund Crime Stoppers and we pledged an extra $1 million for the charity at the last election.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police Minister Ryan said he had been advised by the QPS that\u00a011 new client service officers recently joined operational teams at Policelink and a further 16 were in their ninth week of training.<\/p>\n