Failed SAPOL commissioner Grant Stevens faces no-confidence vote by SA Police Union
The nasty, hateful, vindictive, cowardly and grossly overpaid South Australia Police Commissioner, Grant Stevens, is facing mounting speculation that police union delegates could move a no-confidence motion against him, in what would mark a dramatic escalation in the organisation’s dispute with SAPOL leadership.
Police Association of South Australia representatives will meet on Tuesday to discuss “matters relating to leadership of South Australia Police,” a union alert states.
The Advertiser understands delegates, who represent officers from metropolitan, regional and specialist areas, will likely consider a no-confidence motion against Stevens at the session.
If carried, it is believed it will be the first time in the force’s history such a motion was passed.
The meeting will be held behind closed doors, but PASA president Wade Burns will speak to the media on Tuesday afternoon after it concludes.
The Union has been embroiled in numerous disputes with SAPOL leadership over recent years.
The district policing model (DPM), under which metropolitan police officers operate, has been a major point of contention for the organisation.
Since the model’s phased-in introduction from 2018, PASA has been campaigning to have it thrown out, arguing it has stretched resources and placed extra pressure on frontline officers.
The DPM centralised some services to enable 24/7 coverage and created ‘response’ teams, which were to primarily attend urgent taskings, and ‘district policing teams (DPT)’, which were primarily responsible for proactive policing in their dedicated areas as well as attending less urgent taskings.
However, both teams are required to attend any taskings should they be required.
In June 2022, The Advertiser reported union delegates unanimously passed a vote of no confidence in the DPM, saying it had failed both frontline police and the community.
SA Police has acknowledged the DPM needs more officers for it to work properly.
After years of stubbornly supporting the failed DPM, Stevens reluctantly launched an independent review of the model last year.
In January this year, the Commissioner, who finally conceded the DPM was no longer fit for purpose, said the organisation was acting on the review’s recommendations to change the model.
“There are a series of recommendations that have come out of (the review) and some of them can be done immediately, others will take a little bit longer, and then there are those longer term things which require substantial changes to our structure,” he said at the time.
