Police Commissioner Ian Stewart: his Gold Coast legacy is poor according to cops on the beat.

Police Commissioner Ian Stewart will soon retire having failed to establish a strong and stable leadership team on the Glitter Strip during an unprecedented crime wave, critics say.

POLICE Commissioner Ian Stewart will retire in July having failed to establish a strong and stable leadership team on the Glitter Strip during an unprecedented crime wave, critics say.

While Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk yesterday praised Commissioner Stewart’s six-year reign as the State’s top cop, police on the ground and former detective and Bond University criminologist Terry Goldsworthy were highly critical of his performance.

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Police Commissioner Ian Stewart and Police Minister Mark Ryan. Pic Jono Searle.

Dr Goldsworthy said the Coast had endured a lengthy period of police instability at higher management levels after top cops such as Chief Superintendent Steve Hollands and Rapid Action and Patrols boss Superintendent Jim Keogh were moved out of the district.

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A police source said: “He has an inability to address crime at a street level. He was very tight with the Labor Party.

“He was a protégé of Bob Atkinson. It was unprecedented that three deputies — Brett Pointing, Ross Barnett and Peter Martin — all left during his term.

“His instability at the top reflected in the crime we are now seeing on the street. But he was a master at politics and read the political landscape to a tee.”

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Police on patrol in Surfers Paradise. Picture Glenn Hampson.

Commissioner Stewart, who will retire on July 7, last year promised stable leadership, after the police service faced a series of bombshells on the Coast under his reign including:

● The arrest of top cop Michelle Stenner who was charged with three counts of perjury and one count of misconduct in relation to public office.

● Fifteen police officers facing internal investigation for alleged corruption and misconduct after the Crime and Corruption Commission investigated complains about dodgy crime data and bullying.

● A revolving door police leadership caused by then Gold Coast Chief Superintendent Terry Borland taking extended leave.

● A staffing crisis with as many as 11 of the 24 cops in stations such as Runaway Bay on sick leave, carer’s leave or pending investigation.

Police on the beat on the Coast. Picture Glenn Hampson.

Assistant Commissioner Brian Wilkins has since argued the city has strong, stable leadership but most cops doubt Gold Coast chief superintendent Marty Michelson will return this year after being given a plum job in Brisbane.

“There has been a whole raft of things. If you look at the legacy of Ian Stewart for Queensland police it has been quite a poor one,” Dr Goldsworthy said.

“In crime control, it’s been under performing. In transparency and accountability it has been quite poor. There’s been the Ombudsman’s report on where the (crime) figures were fudged.

“There’s been a culture of targeting the whistleblowers. The lack of transparency in Stewart’s reign — there’s no longer publishing of statistical records. There’s no valid reason for that happening.

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“Morale is not high. It’s probably at the lowest point it has been. There was the review. We’ve lost the Coomera police district. I don’t think we’ve seen a good outcome for the Gold Coast.”

Commissioner Stewart, who has been in the service for 46 years, said one of his enduring legacies was the support of his family.

He said more women were being encouraged to join the force and he had worked hard to increase technology available to officers to solve crimes.

The two hot contenders for his job are Deputy Police Commissioner Bob Gee and Queensland Fire and Emergency Service Commissioner Katarina Carroll, with Labor likely to be tempted to appoint Queensland’s first female Police Commissioner.

Originally published as Police Commissioner Ian Stewart: his Gold Coast legacy is poor according to cops on the beat.