Protective Services Officers patrol at Footscray Station. Picture: Jon Hargest Source: Herald Sun
WOULD-BE police recruits are being sidelined as force command prioritises Protective Services Officer training to meet the rollout deadline.
There are 260 police recruits on the waiting list but only 150 will enter the police academy from April until the end of the financial year, compared with 190 PSOs.
Victoria Police will train 119 fewer police in the first six months this year than it did in 2012.
It aims to train and deploy 940 PSOs by November 2014 to fulfil its promise of having the armed guards at train stations from 6pm until the last train.
The State Government's tough-on-crime election platform were hammered earlier this year when latest police figures showed 35,300 more crimes were detected last year, an increase of 9.5 per cent.
When Victoria Police was asked why PSOs were taking precedence over frontline police, it said: "Victoria Police is working to recruit, train and deploy 940 PSOs by November 2014, so recruiting will continue to support this."
The Government rolled out a $2.7 million advertising blitz on TV, radio, billboards, online and in newspapers from January to March in a bid to recruit more PSOs.
Police Association secretary Greg Davies said the large number of police recruits waiting to get into the force would lead to some never getting in because of the backlog.
Potential police recruits are placed in order of merit after they pass the police application process, including fitness tests.
But if they are not picked for the academy within 12 months, they must sit the application process again.
Sen-Sgt Davies said some were being advised to become a PSO.
"They are saying, 'if you want we are looking for PSOs and you can get straight in' -- some will do that and some have done that," he said.
Force media spokeswoman Cath Allen said the slowing of police recruitment was also a consequence of fewer officers leaving the force.
"Victoria Police is experiencing a period of low attrition, resulting in less police recruits being required," she said.
The force was "on track" to meet promised police and PSO numbers by 2014. Since January 2013, 1161 people had applied to join Victoria Police, while there had been 1376 PSO applicants.
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