WA Radio Scanner Users' Group

dont stress to much the cadets (me) are going through the academy in december some will still be at the age of 17 when we start... haha what a joke.

so ill be out on the road as a constable 3 months before im 19.

Hey earmuff man

So they are actually training you for operational work?

Who would have thought!

Parliament (not the Govt) can pass laws, however, they are not responsible for the operational decisions in the Police Force. Very good reason for this!

As for age.. those going through the cadetship are going to be streets ahead of those coming in cold off the street at the age of 19. Good on 'em I say.

Anecdotal evidence suggests numbers are dwindling in our emergency services as the population ages. Younger people aren't taking up 'the challenge' as readily as many would have in the past.. anything that can encourage more of this has to be considered a good thing.

Im not bagging kids at all, but i have the awareness to realise that i would not be able to work such a dangerous job with my current experience.

So your saying that parliament is a completely seperate entity to the govt?

Government is formed by the political party who has power within the parliament, you can be in the parliament and not be able to pass laws because you simply dont have the numbers.

In WA if you have been elected to parliament as a liberal candidate you are in whats currently known as the "opposition party", you have a say in what laws are being made but the ultimate decision is left to those representing the labor party.

Those who have the numbers in the legistlative assembly are the government. This is also know as democracy.

As for the government not having a say in what goes on with the police perhaps you should be telling The HON John Kobelke that thanks to your glorious insights into the workings of the western australian political system his responcibilities in cabinet are now redundant.

Now that im finished with my online pissing match i will clarify my point,

EXPERIENCE is paramount in policing, what you do, see and handle cannot be learnt inside the academy. Police work is one of the hardest jobs to do in a busy city and if these people are making the decision to join the police academy while they are 17 (yes, before they are responcible enough to drink) i think its going to be tough, policing would be extremely stressful and often disheartening and it is a huge huge huge commitment, which i can proudly say that at 18 i am not ready for and i hope these guys are.

I personally dont think that this is the answer to the police shortage.

I think cadets are a great idea. I finally have someone to make coffee and run my errands for me.

They are not a new idea. Cadets were the norm until 1995 then stopped by the Commissioner of the time. You will find a large proportion of WAPOL were cadets at some stage or another. They only perform admin duties but are in the process of learning to become a proper copper.

In relation to the vehicles. They need to drive to do their jobs. If an area only has an XR6T or the like then they drive it simple as that. It is not like they can catch a bus

Just to clarify about who can order who to do what. Yes Parliament pass laws and Government implement policy. In relation to operational decisions such as where police are deployed, what equipment they will carry,how fast they will drive, how many police stations or squads there are or if they wear pink uniforms the Commissioner decides this.

Obviously there are back door deals and pressure placed on the
Commissioner to do things but in relation to the day to day running he has the final say.

Hope this helps

And the separation of Police Policy is an important part of democracy too. Why else do you have a Commissioner?

And as for the rest, it is completely off topic for this part of the forum (and I cant be bothered telling you why you're wrong )

Cheers chev,

However i still personally see the cadets going straight into the police force at 19 as being a bad idea.

Fastlane wrote:And the separation of Police Policy is an important part of democracy too. Why else do you have a Commissioner?

And as for the rest, it is completely off topic for this part of the forum (and I cant be bothered telling you why you're wrong )

The seperation you are speaking of is between the Legistlative (Create laws) the executive (administrate laws) and the judicial (Courts/judges ect), though this principle is THEORY not practise and you will find that it is seldom black and white.

[quote="jmmw"]Cheers chev,

However i still personally see the cadets going straight into the police force at 19 as being a bad idea.[/quote]

they dont though they have to be found 'suitable'

jmmw wrote:Cheers chev,

However i still personally see the cadets going straight into the police force at 19 as being a bad idea.

You are not the lone ranger there. Concern has always been expressed about the entry age but I spose you have to start somewhere.

A concern that i have is that everyone reacts differently to high pressure high stress situations.

I dont know what how im going to handle that sort of situation, for all i know i could freeze and my mind will go blank and i will just be a sitting duck or i could revert back to training and do everything by the book or i could just start flailing a baton at anything that moves or i could just handle it well. I dont know because i have never been in a situation that has put me on the spot.

Police are the lead combat authority for situations just like this and if one of them freezes after their partner has just been backed into a pool and i have an offender coming towards me with a knife then im going to be in all sorts of trouble.

Thats why i want to go through the security industry to get a taste of the scenarios i may be facing before committing myself to such a role.

By reading your post jimmw just now, seems like you dont have any self-confidence. Your going into the wrong industry if you dont have confidence within yourself.

My Thoughts.

HM-106

Nothing in my posts indicates that i dont have self confidence.

I have more then enough confidence in myself to meet any of the challenges that may be thrown in my direction, i am just wise enough not to pretend to be a hero and be reserved enough not to charge in thinking i will be fine.

Couple years ago people from my SES unit attended a job in which someone was accidently run through a mulcher. Obviously this is something that was never going to be easy but many of the members attended assuming that they would be alright with it, unfortunately some of these members were'nt as prepared as they might think and suffered the psychological consequences of a deeply disturbing situation.

You CANNOT know for sure how you will react to disturbing/highly stressful situations until you have faced them, thats just reality and has nothing to do with my self confidence.

I think if you spoke to chicky she would vouch for my confidence

Besides, if i had no self confidence would i still be arguing my point even though so many people here disagree with me?

This maybe a lil off topic, but I was driving ambulances when I was on my P plates, for the last 2 months of them anyway. I had previously done an advanced driver course, a st john vehicle course, and then also got permission from dpi to not display P Plates, sja helped with that part though. The way I see it, as long as they have the right skills, eg. an advanced drivers course, I can't see a problem with it, even with only 2 - 3 months left on their P's. Just my opinion.