Officers are being pulled from front-line policing to do administrative work and ‘babysit’ prisoners, according to retired homicide squad detective Charlie Bezzina.
The Sunshine resident, who worked on high-profile cases such as the deaths of gangster Alphonse Gangitano and cricketer David Hookes, will speak at next month’s Altona SES 30th anniversary dinner.
Mr Bezzina says he plans, in his speech, to cover investigative techniques and what the lot of a police officer is really like.
He said police were increasingly doing administrative duties that used to be performed by civilian staff.
“The government has stripped some significant finance from the police department and I believe it might have been $60-odd million last budget,” Mr Bezzina said.
The SES dinner, restricted to past and present SES volunteers, is at Kooringal Golf Club, on November 9 from 6pm. RSVP on 9315 9464.
