NSW Police union slams hunt for new top boss as an ‘absolute debacle’

EXCLUSIVE: UNION officials are boasting to senior cops they have forced the appointment of two new deputy police commissioners to be delayed because they thought the selection process was a “debacle”.

• ANDREW CLENNELL: UNION LOY PLOY TURNS NASTY
• WHO WILL REPLACE COMMISSIONER SCIPIONE?

UNION officials are boasting to senior cops they have forced the appointment of two new deputy police commissioners to be delayed because they thought the selection process was a “debacle”.

The union disregard for the government is the latest scandal to hit the beleaguered top brass, as disunity continues to spill over into the public. The Daily Telegraph can reveal Assistant Commissioners Frank Mennilli and Mick Fuller were ­selected by an interview panel in December to be the state’s next deputies.

It’s understood Mr Mennilli was recommended to become Deputy Commissioner (City) and Mr Fuller to become Deputy Commissioner (Country). But a cabinet decision endorsing these recommendations was delayed.

Police Association president Scott Weber left a message on Mr Mennilli’s phone recently saying words to the effect of: “We (the union) were approached by the government about (support for) pulling the process (to ­appoint the deputies) and we support the government in pulling the process”.

Mr Mennilli also last week met the executive director of the police ministry, Adrian McKenna, who The Daily Telegraph understands informed him he would not be appointed deputy commissioner, despite being selected by the panel as one of the preferred candidates.

The association’s preferred candidate for deputy commissioner — and for the state’s next commissioner — is Assistant Commissioner Jeff Loy. The association is now pushing Police Minister Troy Grant to “pull the process” and delay the appointment until a new commissioner is found to replace retiring Commissioner Andrew Scipione this year.

Mr Grant yesterday said no decision had been taken regarding any delay to the appointments, with the matter yet to go to cabinet.

Amid the gathering storm in the cops, a heated confrontation apparently took place on Jane McGrath Day at the Sydney Cricket Ground Test with union official Tony Bear chastising the Commander of Robbery and Serious Crime Superintendent Steve Blackmore for circulating an email among senior officers calling on them to support the appointment of the deputy commissioners going ahead without delay.

NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione.

NSW Police Minister Troy Grant.

Mr Bear is also said to have indicated to Mr Blackmore and other senior officers that the association was backing Mr Loy as the next commissioner and had got their way by delaying the ­appointments.

Mr Bear yesterday denied he made such comments. He said his conversation with Mr Blackmore was a “private conversation”.

Yet Mr Weber confirmed the association was in a dispute with Mr Mennilli.

“Frank was asking me ... and I said we fully support delaying this process because we haven’t even seen the re-engineering and we want the new commissioner put in place so they can actually have a hand in moving this forward,” Mr Weber said.

Mr Weber said Mr Mennilli was “saying we deliberately did this because we don’t like Frank” — denying this was the case.

Acting Deputy Commissioner Frank Mennilli.

Assistant Commissioner Mick Fuller.

Mr Weber said he would like to see Mr Loy appointed commissioner. “I’d be happy with Loy as commissioner. I’d be happy with numerous people as commissioner.”

He said the whole process was an “absolute debacle” with new deputies to be appointed to sit alongside current deputies Dave Hudson and Cath Burn just months before a new commissioner, who may want their own team, was to be appointed.

On the selection panel was Mr Scipione, the head of the NSW department of premier and cabinet Blair Comley and the NT police commissioner Reece Kershaw. Supt Blackmore said his email was “a private report”. He declined to comment on the conversation with Mr Bear. Mr Fuller said: “My understanding is the matter hasn’t gone to cabinet yet and we probably should wait for that.” Mr Mennilli declined to comment.

Cartoonist Warren Brown’s view.

IT’S A CASE OF TRIPLE D’OH! IN TOP RANKS

ANALYSIS Andrew Clennell

THE mess that has become the succession planning for who should replace Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione started five years ago when then deputies Cath Burn and Nick Kaldas went to war over a police bugging scandal.

Kaldas pushed hard for an inquiry into unlawful bugging of police officers, including himself, at the turn of the century. Burn was one of the senior cops working on bugging.

When both were found to have acted unlawfully or inappropriately in last year’s ­Ombudsman’s report into the affair, it effectively ended any chance either could be considered as the state’s next top cop.

Deputy Police Commissioner Cath Burn.

Former Deputy Police Commissioner Nick Kaldas.

The much respected Kaldas retired last year having seen the writing on the wall after he was accused of giving false evidence.

Since then, the government has been faced with the prospect of having to pull someone from the assistant commissioner ranks or appoint from outside — with the latter being a move traditionally resisted from NSW police.

It has always been clear that whatever Police Minister Troy Grant said about wanting to appoint more deputy commissioners so he could “re-engineer” the force, the main focus was always to give more people time in the job as a deputy commissioner to prepare them for a tilt to replace Mr Scipione. Initially, Mr Scipione was accused by some in government of delaying the process to appoint deputies. Now Mr Grant is being accused of delaying the process because the Police Association do not like the candidates selected by a panel involving Mr Scipione and the head of the Department of Premier and Cabinet