The Queensland Police Service (QPS) has inducted its largest ever cohort of international and interstate officer transfers.
Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said 78 officers, all with interstate or international policing experience, graduated from the QPS Academy in Oxley today.
Commissioner Gollschewski said the QPS offered a special-entry program for officers with experience in other Australian or overseas police services and trained recruits through its 18-week Police Abridged Competency Education (PACE) program.
He said PACE used a combination of theory and skills-based training and assessment, designed to build upon existing policing experience.
“Today’s graduates bring great experience, diverse perspectives and valuable skills from their previous policing careers,” Commissioner Gollschewski said.
He said the officers inducted today represented the largest PACE cohort to date, with 36 having previously served with New Zealand Police, while their colleagues hailed from the United Kingdom, South Africa, Canada, Hungary, United States of America, and other Australian police services.
Commissioner Gollschewski said the QPS recognised the contribution of experienced officers, offering a $20,000 relocation incentive to eligible applicants, along with higher pay from day one at the academy.
He said there were currently more than 580 active applications for the PACE program and following today’s graduation, there were 700 QPS recruits in training and more than 2400 applicants in the recruiting pipeline.
