Jake talks to club about his experience with community policing

The Queensland Police Service have been having some bad media and a tough time of it recently. What between mysoginistic comments and culture, shootings of citizens with drug and mental health issues, and inadequate responses to domestic violence situations, its been a worrying time. 
 
So it was good to hear on Friday from a local detective about his career thus far with the Queensland Police Service. The stories highlighted some of the difficulties faced by officers in responding to community issues. (or as sometimes wrongly reported, the Queensland Police "force" called to "deal" with the perpetrator.
 
Straight away we learned that "police ain't police" the same over Australia. Jake hails from Victoria where his family his dad also served in th ePolice service, and if Victorian policemen want to transfer to Queensland (why wouldn't they) there is a reasonably lengthy program to train up on the differences. So now Jake is responding to community matters on the Sunshine Coast. 
 
We know that at the root of all crime there are two issues, and they have nothing to do with the police service.
 
The two major issues are poverty and mental health. Intervening early in these issues dramatically reduces social problems and crime. Avoiding these issues, and increasing penalties ...well, we'll get what we always get, high levels of incarceration (percentages haven't changed in 50 years, and more unfortunates in jail, coming out to create more social problems). Lesson ends. 
 
Unfortunately the police have to deal with the outcomes of these two issues and as Jake reflected, the situations that police find themselves in, often affect their mental health and well being. 
 
So next time you're talking to a policeman, be kind, you don't know what they've been dealing with just a few hours before.