Cover-up claims, affairs and misconduct probe shadow NSW Police command
A MISCONDUCT probe targeting the upper echelons of a regional police command is looking at allegations a domestic violence incident was covered up to protect a secret affair.
NSW
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ALLEGATIONS that police changed a report on claims of domestic violence to protect a senior officer are being investigated by the Professional Standards Command.
Dozens of police officers stationed at the Murrumbidgee Police District in southwest NSW have been interviewed over the past few months amid allegations of favouritism, bullying and inappropriate relationships.
At the heart of the investigation is a complaint that undue influence was placed on junior officers sent to a domestic incident involving a female police officer and her de facto partner last year.
The female officer was a friend of the district’s boss, Superintendent Michael Rowan, the PSC has been told.
The inquiry is also looking into allegations of the female officer’s relationship with Rowan.
In line with normal practice, a report about the incident was logged in the internal police system — known as COPS.
The PSC has been told an officer at Griffith Police Station allegedly pressured colleagues to amend or delete the COPS entry detailing what happened at the female officer’s house that day.
Notebooks, in which the two junior officers made handwritten records of what occurred, have since been handed over to the PSC.
The scandal has rocked the tight-knit policing community.
Supt Rowan, a veteran officer who has been the face of several high-profile murder investigations, has largely been absent from Griffith in recent weeks after transferring to the Hume Police District to fill in for another commander.
The investigation is also looking into the relationship between another officer, area manager Brenda Steadman and Supt Rowan. These allegations were revealed in The Sunday Telegraph last month.
A NSW Police spokesman would not expand on the investigation, only to confirm a “process remains under way”.
“The NSW Police Force has a rigorous framework in place to ensure all complaint matters are thoroughly investigated,” he said.