No new police officers: Basic courses canceled in six federal states

The austerity program at the Austrian police is now also extending to new recruitments. In September, basic training classes will be canceled in six federal states. This is shown by corresponding APA research. Blue and red staff representatives criticized on Thursday. The Ministry of the Interior pointed out in a response on Thursday that the staffing plan is "determined by the federal finance law." Internally, however, the canceled courses are causing discontent.

Police Basic Courses Canceled in Six Federal States

Specifically, the federal states of Tyrol, Salzburg, Carinthia, Styria, and Burgenland will be completely left out in September. In Lower Austria, at least a six-month border police course and a three-month course for training border assistants will take place in September, as stated in a corresponding letter to the state police directorates dated June 17, which is available to the APA. It mentions a "first adaptation of the new recruitment planning."

"1:1 Replacements for Every Departure" Assured

The "recruitment offensive of recent years" has led to an "all-time personnel high" of police officers in the department, the Ministry of the Interior explained in a renewed statement late in the morning. However, figures on the ratio of officers in active patrol service to officers in special assignments and allocations to special units were not provided.

As emphasized, every position "vacated by retirements" will be "replaced 1:1." It was also noted that there is a "personnel surplus in all state police directorates - except for Vienna and Vorarlberg." The reason for this was "the forward-looking departure forecast." "That there may be deviations at individual stations is beyond question. The focus of new recruitments is on the metropolitan area of Vienna and Vorarlberg."

Offer for Vienna and Vorarlberg

No information was provided about the recruitment cycle in December. Since the end of June, the Ministry of the Interior's recruiting website only lists job postings for the foreign and border police in Lower Austria and for basic police training in Upper Austria and Vienna. In contrast, the posting for the September cycle had not yet been updated on the website by Thursday morning at 12:00.

Of course, "contact will be made" with the affected individuals in advance, said a ministry spokeswoman in response to an APA inquiry about the situation for applicants affected by course cancellations. They are likely to have been offered the opportunity to use their points from the aptitude test for basic training in Vienna or Vorarlberg. This is evident from a letter to an applicant from one of the affected federal states from the end of June, which is available to the APA. The points achieved will remain valid for one year, it says.

Cancellations in Patrols, No Replacements for Sick Leave

The Styrian trade unionist Jürgen Grill contradicted the Ministry of the Interior's statement regarding the replacements for departures on Thursday. "So far this year, we have had 59 retirements. In contrast, there have been 28 new hires so far, and there will not be more according to the current status," said Grill from the Social Democratic Trade Unionists (FSG) faction.

The base is at the "limit," the austerity package is at the expense of the safety of the population and the police. He pointed out in this context the lack of replacements for sick leave on weekends, cancellations in sector and youth protection patrols in numerous districts, as well as the reduction of the minimum personnel requirements in Graz.

Cuts Lead to Sharp Criticism

The federal chairman of the police section in the blue AUF union, Reinhold Maier, criticized the APA for what he said were only "1,486 instead of the originally planned 2,466 new hires" and emphasized that the projected retirement departures "cannot be compensated in this form." "This inevitably leads to less presence," said Maier, who also sits for the FPÖ in the National Council and as a staff representative in the nationwide central committee.

Further criticism of the cuts also came on Thursday from the deputy FSG federal chairman Walter Strallhofer. "With the elimination of recruitment bonuses and police school classes, the profession becomes less attractive - despite the precarious personnel shortage in police stations," said Strallhofer. "Those who save on training today endanger security tomorrow. The responsible parties in the Ministry of the Interior continue the wrong personnel policy of the last decades." A response from the Christian Trade Unionists (FCG) faction within the police was still pending on Thursday.

Various Austerity Measures in the Police

Since spring, extensive austerity measures have been in effect in the police. Not only overtime is affected but also material costs, construction projects, brass bands in the state police directorates, recruitment bonuses, as well as the climate ticket and the free driver's license for police trainees. Currently, cuts in the base reward are also said to be under consideration. The Ministry of the Interior justified the cuts in March with the then still pending federal budget.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.