As the Territory's law and order crisis stretches police officers to their limits across the Northern Territory, the union is deeply concerned about a controversial proposal to expand their ranks. The plan is for Public Housing and Public Transit Safety Officers to retrain under police command, but those at the centre of the proposal are still in the dark about how it would work.
00:00A month on from a government shake-up, frontline public safety officers are caught in a bureaucratic limbo between the public service and police.
00:11They feel genuinely hurt by the government, a government that said over and over again during the election campaign that it would be frontline staff that would be protected and that would be grown, and they're the first that have been thrown in front of the bus.
00:23Staff currently patrol public housing and the bus network. Last month they found out through the media they'd need to retrain under police command.
00:33They've been told they'll be authorised to carry guns, but are still in the dark about their pay and conditions, and they're not the only ones in need of more details.
00:43All I see at the moment is a police force that's going to take on additional roles and responsibilities and be given these positions to manage, and I don't know how that's going to work at this point in time.
00:52The government says there's still plenty of time until the new police public safety officers begin training later this year, and those who don't want to transition to the new role can stay on in their current job.
01:03They say the move is necessary to free up police resources and improve public safety, but neither union agrees.
01:11There's not enough staff as it is to cover the bus network and public housing. They're doing the best they can with what they have, and now they'll have to spend more time in other places.
01:21People in the public want to make sure that people carrying firearms and any equipment, defensive tactics equipment, that they're well trained, they're well rehearsed, they're provided that legislation about when they can't use it, but again, without that further detail, I can't have those conversations.
01:36The first wave of police public safety officers are due to begin training in December.
01:43So, we can get into the department of police.
01:44Thank you very much.
01:45Thanks.
01:47Now I just want to know that I'm too liked to take these important things.
