District Court overturns demotion, transfer of senior officer who pushed a female officer on to a bed
A “totally devastated” constable transferred after complaining a male superior pushed her down on to a bed is now questioning her future with the organisation.
Police & Courts
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A female constable has said she was treated “horrifically” after complaining about inappropriate behaviour from a senior officer who pushed her down on to a bed during a boozy weekend away.
The constable said she was transferred away from her station without support and was queried by internal investigations about whether the senior officer had “tripped and fallen on her”.
But despite the seriousness of the allegations, the senior officer has won a significant legal victory with the District Court setting aside his demotion and mandatory transfer as “manifestly excessive”.
The Advertiser is prevented by the Police Complaints and Discipline Act from identifying either police officer.
An SA Police spokesman said that while they were considering the judgment, they would not be commenting.
In a judgment handed down on Wednesday but published on Thursday, Judge Jo-Anne Deuter held that the senior officer had been unfairly disciplined by an Assistant Commissioner who had placed too much weight on an “inaccurate and prejudicial” impact statement written by the victim.
Judge Deuter wrote that in September 2020 the senior officer had pulled the female constable close while dancing.
Both officers and other police were at a weekend away where alcohol was being consumed.
Later in the evening the senior officer followed the constable to a bedroom where she was going to get changed and pushed her down on the bed and leaned over her.
The victim said both incidents made her feel “very uncomfortable”.
The senior officer was extremely intoxicated at the time and there was no suggestion that he said anything sexual during the incident and was rather “rambling about work”.
In a five page impact statement, the victim spent one page outlining the impact of the incident itself and the rest criticising the internal investigation.
“The experience has left me totally devastated with SAPOL, where I am now left questioning my career within this organisation,” she wrote.
“If I remain in this organisation and another incident like this or similar was to happen to me, I highly doubt I would report this.
“The process has been horrific for my mental health and I would not be surprised if many similar incidents go unreported for this reason.”
She was made to leave her post and transfer to a different station “not because she had done anything wrong, but because someone had done something wrong (by her)”.
The senior officer admitted to the misconduct and said he was “horrified by his behaviour”.
He had previously been reprimanded for sending a “culturally insensitive” email.
The initial punishment was handed down without the Assistant Commissioner giving any reasons for the severity of the punishment or pausing to consider the information he had received.
He ordered that the senior officer be demoted, transferred to another station for 13 months and have an official reprimand recorded against him.
Judge Deuter held that the Assistant Commissioner had taken into account the impact statement which contained prejudicial and irrelevant material.
She said the demotion in particular was a serious financial penalty, reducing the officer’s yearly wage by around $20,000 and affecting his prospects of an early retirement as planned.
Judge Deuter granted the appeal, finding the punishment was “manifestly excessive” and remitted the matter back to SA Police to be dealt with again.