Premier Roger Cook vows to give aspiring police officers from regions free housing and tenure near home

A re-elected Labor Government will invest $15.6 million on incentives encouraging more police recruits to live regionally. In a bid to put more boots on the ground, Premier Roger Cook has promised to give aspiring police officers from regional WA free accommodation while training in Perth and guaranteeing recruits a position in their home district. The funding would be put towards redeveloping the former housing block next to the WA Police Academy in Joondalup, giving regional recruits access to free accommodation with ongoing costs paid. Regional recruits will also be guaranteed a placement in the district they are from, allowing them to serve the first tenure of their policing career close to family and friends if they wish. During his visit to Geraldton on Friday, Mr Cook said the latest incentives would be in addition to other benefits for officers working in regional areas, including one-off incentive payments, subsidised housing and travel concessions, and specialised training. “We’ll look after our regional police recruits and make sure they have a place to stay during their training time,” the Premier said. “Following your training, we’ll guarantee that you’ll have a job for the first four-to-six years in the community from which you came from. It may not be directly next door, but it will be in the same area.” The announcement is part of WA Labor’s Vision for Geraldton, which can be found on the website. On average up to 10 per cent of recruits undergoing training at the WA Police Academy are from regional WA.