SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens disappointed at MP linking him – and a relative – to an ICAC probe

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens isn’t happy about an MP publicly linking him and a family member to an ICAC probe into police recruitment and favouritism.

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens says he and a family member are innocent of any wrongdoing, after being linked to an ICAC probe into police recruitment associated with the suicide of a high-ranking officer.

The Advertiser previously revealed a police employee altered a cadet application to help the relative of a “very senior” officer pass the test.

Greens MLC Tammy Franks shed further light on the matter under parliamentary privilege on Wednesday evening.

“Current commissioner Grant Stevens had a family member who had their spelling corrected – albeit I think unsuccessfully – because I think the officer who attempted to correct the spelling still did not get the words right, but that is simply hearsay,” she said.

“Yet never once did he disclose that conflict of interest to our committee.”

The matter formed part of an ICAC investigation about a 2016/17 police recruitment drive called Recruit 313.

Greens MLC Tammy Franks. Picture: Dean Martin

Ms Franks accused Mr Stevens failing to declare a conflict of interest when he answered questions about that ICAC investigation during a parliamentary inquiry.

The parliamentary inquiry – into harm caused by ICAC – heard that former chief superintendent Doug Barr took his own life in October 2019 while under scrutiny over his involvement in the recruitment drive.

An ICAC report into Recruit 313 later made no findings against him.

His widow Debbie Barr, who claimed the stress of the inquiry caused her husband to take his life, told a parliamentary hearing in September that it was another officer who had changed the spelling results for a cadet applicant.

Mr Stevens on Thursday expressed disappointment at being publicly connected to the ICAC investigation.

“The ICAC commissioner has made it abundantly clear that neither I or any relative of mine has done anything wrong, and I find it curious, perhaps disappointing, that a member of parliament is prepared to cause distress or harm to other people without any justification to do so,” he said.

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens Picture: Kelly Barnes

The Advertiser reported on Wednesday that the parliamentary inquiry into harm caused by ICAC recommended the state government compensate police officers and public servants who were subject to high-profile but failed ICAC investigations, or were cleared of any wrongdoing.

It also recommended that compensation should be considered for any “individuals and their families who suffered adverse outcomes from failed ICAC investigations and prosecutions since its inception in 2012”.