100 Police Charged With Crimes

Sydney Morning Herald

Wednesday November 25, 1998

By LUIS M. GARCIA State Political Writer

More than 100 police officers in NSW have been charged in the past financial year with serious criminal offences, including indecent assault, fraud, unauthorised use of computer information and drink-driving, the State Ombudsman has revealed.

Another 1,200 officers have been counselled formally as a result of complaints relating to their performance or conduct while on duty.

These complaints included sexual harassment, the improper detention of intoxicated persons, traffic and parking offences, drinking on duty, failure to wear a police badge number and delays in answering correspondence.

In her annual report to Parliament, the Ombudsman, Ms Irene Moss, described the overall figures as "unacceptably high", coming less than 18 months after the publication of the Police Royal Commission reports into police corruption.

She said that while most police officers were doing a good job in difficult circumstances, too many officers were still "falling from grace" and ending up on the wrong side of the law.

Senior commanders were continuing to treat complaints as a threat - and often failed to say "sorry" to customers even when a formal investigation uncovered misconduct or a breach of police guidelines.

The system for dealing with internal complaints had improved, but officers who "blew the whistle" on corruption were still being victimised, harassed and threatened.

"While I am determined that the rights of citizens to complain about the conduct of police will be staunchly protected . . . I will not allow the complaints system to be misused to penalise police officers for doing their job," Ms Moss said.

"Unfortunately, some police commanders continue to see complaints as only being significant if criminality or other very serious misconduct is revealed - they show little understanding of basic principles of customer service."

Her report shows that the number of formal or written complaints lodged against police by members of the public has jumped from 3,611 in the 1995-96 financial year to 4,266 in 1997-98. In the past financial year, an additional 768 complaints were lodged by other police officers.

Ms Moss said there were early signs of a cultural change among police largely as a result of the royal commission recommendations, but she conceded "there will always be corruption" in the Police Service.

"Those officers who challenge the old culture of putting loyalty to fellow officers ahead of the public interest are very courageous and need the support of the service and the community," she said.

Among the cases involving officers charged with criminal offences, the Ombudsman highlighted:

* A sergeant charged with indecent assaults, an act of indecency and possessing firearms without a permit, was suspended from duty and eventually resigned.

* A senior constable charged with assaulting a 12-year-old boy was placed on restricted duties while his future was reviewed by the Police Commissioner.

* A senior constable charged with indecent assault, drug and firearm offences was suspended and later dismissed.

* A constable who fired a shot into the ceiling of the police station was convicted of assault on a colleague and suspended, forcing his resignation from the service.

WHAT THE OMBUDSMAN FOUND

* An intellectually disabled man was forced from a Countrylink train between Sydney and the North Coast and left to find his way home because an inspector claimed his ticket, overprinted in red ink, was invalid. The train service apologised and offered father and son a free holiday.

* A council improperly exhumed a corpse after it was buried in the wrong reserved plot. The cemetery administration apologised to the family which owned the plot.

* Two Mardi Gras partygoers charged with goods in custody, resisting arrest and hindering police for wearing a NSW police badge they claimed to have bought legally from a second-hand dealer. Senior police agreed with Ombudsman that wearing costumes at the Mardi Gras "can be reasonably expected".

* Wollondilly Council allowed a 100,000-bird poultry farm to continue a "disgusting" stench, making the neighbour's house uninhabitable since 1986, despite the neighbour writing 50 unanswered protests to the council and a damning report from police.

* A police officer damaged the car of a fellow officer who had blown the whistle on his misconduct, leaving a $1,000 repair bill. The perpetrator was suspended and charged with harassment.

* A senior constable facing loss of Commissioner's confidence after being charged with assault on boy.