Illawarra's overworked and underpaid police at breaking point

Police are no longer simply upholding the law, these days they are expected to be mental health counselors, ambulance officers, relationship experts, prison guards, youth workers, family law experts, insurance data officers, probation and patrol workers and National Parks and Wildlife officers.

"Our members should not have to be experts in jobs that they aren't trained in," Police Association of NSW president Kevin Morton said at the union's biennial conference at Novotel Wollongong on Tuesday, May 21.

Calls were unanimous for police to stop doing non-police work and there were cheers from the crowd amid calls for better pay.

"It's time to listen to the men and women who are at breaking point because of this excess workload. Our police are leaving this profession that they love because they are can't do it anymore," Mr Morton said.

"Those that are there and staying are tired, they're fatigued and they are burning out and they are getting injured."

Mr Morton said the union would keep fighting for a 25 per cent pay increase over four years for police.

"The public sector wages policy [10.5 per cent pay rise over three years] that was introduced at 6pm on Sunday [May 19] night does not change my position or the position of the Police Association going forward," he said.

NSW Premier Chris Minns listened as Mr Morton called on him for action during the conference.

"NSW Police are no longer the problem solvers for everyone else's portfolio," he said.

There's been a 25 per cent increase in new police applicants since the NSW Government introduced a suite of strategies to bolster policing numbers this year.

For the first in many years, Mr Morton said there's graduate classes of more than 350 students.

A police officer since 1987 and now the Commissioner, Karen Webb, told officers at the conference they deserved a "healthy pay rise"

"We're very conscious that pay is one of the drivers that attracts people and keeps people in this job," she said.

Comm Webb said police are very good at picking up work that is "not truly ours".

"We are trying to be everything for everybody, filling gaps and picking up the pieces where others are absent or have failed.

"If we don't change something we'll tie ourselves in knots and become impotent."

But neither the union or the Commissioner could say when police would be able to stop doing work that is not theirs. They are unable to hold stop work, although Mr Morton said during past industrial action that officers have stopped writing out tickets.

"It is essentially about saying no, this is not our role anymore. It is imperative that the government does something about it and either introduce resources into these areas that should be dealing with these people, or these incidents and not just having our members fill the gap," Mr Morton said.

Mr Minns praised police in the Illawarra and across the state for their work so far this year including the high profile Bondi stabbing, in which Wollongong born woman Jade Young was killed, along with the Wakeley church stabbing and riot, increase in knife crime, and this week's stabbing of a young constable doing traffic point duty in Sydney.

"It's complex work, it's difficult work, it often involves split second decisions that police officers know may be examined in great detail in months and weeks ahead," he said.

"I've listened to Kevin's message about mission creep this morning, about all the extra jobs that you take on All of the individual uniforms that you wear and of course I'll discuss directly with my ministers."