The Malinauskas Government and SAPOL are today launching the new ‘You Belong in Blue’ recruit advertising campaign, promoting a critical goal to boost cadet recruit numbers.
The new campaign is a direct result of a major state government investment announced in the budget of $12.2 million to increase recruitment and resourcing efforts across SAPOL.
The campaign was launched at the Adelaide Footy League (AdfL) A1 Men’s Grand Final today, showcasing SAPOL’s strong partnership with the league.
SAPOL and the AdfL collaborated this year to help promote policing as a career of choice, highlighting distinct similarities between the two in areas such as teamwork, leadership, and resilience.
Current, serving police officers were used for campaign promotional materials. What is seen on billboards, promoted on buses or trams and on the side of SAPOL’s recruiting van are images of SAPOL’s own people reflecting their current diverse workforce.
The ‘You Belong in Blue’ tag line reflects the well-known nexus between policing and the colour blue used significantly across Australia and overseas.
SAPOL is currently recruiting and is keen to hear from people interested in an inspiring career with unmatched experiences and rewards. Being part of SAPOL means belonging within a community.
The new campaign will work in conjunction with the budget investment that will further boost the number of police recruits graduating to more than 300 per year and deliver over 900 new police cadets to the frontline over the next three years.
The budget also saw the first funding increase to permanent sworn Police Security Officer (PSO) staff since 2018 of $81.8 million over four years, to recruit an additional 189 sworn PSOs - allowing police officers to focus on front line, core policing duties.
If you are looking for job security, career progression pathways and a chance to make a real difference in local communities visit www.police.sa.gov.au/join-us
Quotes
Attributable to Joe Szakacs
The ‘You Belong in Blue’ campaign was driven by a strong desire from SAPOL to attract recruits from all walks of life.
The Malinauskas Government’s $94 million investment in SAPOL directly illustrates the priority we give to law and order, and ensuring all South Australians are safe and represented by a strong and capable police force.
This new campaign supports the government’s aim to improve the way we find and train new police officers to meet operational demand.
There are more than 40 different career options as a person progresses through their policing career, and I encourage those sitting on the fence to take the leap of faith and apply now.
Attributable to SAPOL Commissioner Grant Stevens
This year 157 new police officers have graduated from the Police Academy, boosting our numbers.
However, we still want to attract more police and police security officers to join our team.
This campaign showcases the powerful focus on the personal values and the relationship between everyday life and that of being a police officer – who are an intrinsic part of the community – not apart from it.
Our officers are ordinary people doing an extraordinary job.
We have doubled the amount of recruit courses at the South Australia Police Academy and are encouraging anyone who can see themselves with a career in SAPOL to apply now.
Attributable to Adelaide Footy League CEO John Kernahan
We are privileged to be an integral part of helping today to launch SAPOL’s new recruiting marketing campaign. It is fantastic that we can do this on one of our biggest days of the year where around 3,000 people are likely to attend today’s games.
Our partnership with SAPOL is continuing to grow and this is just another example of the ongoing initiatives both organisations are implementing.
We look forward to working together even more closely with SAPOL moving into 2024, trying to promote SAPOL as a career of choice across our diverse player cohort.
