Bizarre sexist and racist rants linked to top Victorian cop

ONE of Victoria’s top cops has resigned after he was linked to sexist and racist that he said would be OK to say at a barbecue.

ONE of Victoria’s top cops has quit after he was linked to a series of “crude and coarse” racist and sexist comments posted online.

On Monday night, Victoria Police announced Assistant Commissioner Brett Guerin had tendered his resignation in the midst of an Independent Broad-based Commission Against Corruption (IBAC) probe about his remarks.

Mr Guerin, who headed the force’s ethical standard body, had been linked by Fairfax Media to bizarre online posts which included offensive references to “Indian and Pakistani peasant[s]” and “jigaboo[s]”.

He also trolled former officers whose stance he disagreed with including former Police Commissioner Christine Nixon.

Last week, as the extent of the comments began to become clear, Mr Guerin said he was “most ashamed” that his mother and daughters had now read the posts.

He said he had used language that would not have been out of place around the barbecue but wasn’t appropriate from someone in his position.

Former Victorian Assistant Commissioner Brett Guerin.

The comments were reportedly made under the online pseudonym “Vernon Demerest” a character from the 1970 film Airport.

“I’m afraid this is what happens when the lash is abolished. The jigaboo runs riot and out of control. The ‘boo needs the lash. The ‘boo wants the lash. Deep, deep down the ‘boo knows the lash provides the governance and stability”, Fairfax said Demerest wrote underneath a Somali pirate attack video.

“Jigaboo” is a racial slur for black people.

Below a video about Argentina’s loss to Holland in the 1998 World Cup, he said: “Wonderful to see greasy, diving, cheating dagoes get their just reward. Bitter, lingering defeat”, reported AAP. “Dagoes” is an offensive term to refer to people of Spanish, Portuguese or Italian origin.

The slurs didn’t stop at racism. The newspaper also reported Demerest made sexually graphic comments about AFL, rugby league and cricket games, and separately claimed women shouldn’t be allowed to sing the national anthem.

Brett Guerin was a four decade veteran of the force.

“The National Anthem must never be improvised. It must always be sung by a male. A baritone. And accompanied by a band. No argument. No opinion. Just fact,” Demerest wrote.

It’s claimed a 2016 post from Demerest was in relation to Ms Nixon and ex-police union boss Paul Mullett.

“She (Ms Nixon) bent the Mulletmeister (Mullett) over and slipped a rather large schlong up his date courtesy of the Supreme Court’s decision this morning.”

Mr Guerin was referred to IBAC on Thursday after the comments about former police officers became clear but prior to the racial slurs being reported.

That day, he publicly apologised for making sexually inappropriate remarks on a website about Ms Nixon and Mr Mullett: “It’s crude and coarse language and, you know, what I’m most ashamed about is my mother and my daughters have read it now,” he told 3AW.

Some comments referred to Victoria’s former Police Commissioner Christine Nixon. Picture: Aaron Francis

“Language that people would use at a barbecue but language I would imagine most people would not expect from someone like me. Particularly in the role I have,” he said.

“The language I used ... was completely inappropriate, embarrassing and I can understand people saying ‘what the hell is this bloke doing?’”

He said he used the alias Demerest because: “If I had gone in under my own name, it would have been associated with police.”

A statement from Victoria Police on Monday said, “The Chief Commissioner (Graham Ashton) has accepted this resignation.

“This action is related to an ongoing (IBAC) investigation into recent conduct alleged against him.”

On Tuesday, Mr Ashton told reporters he was appalled at Mr Guerin’s behaviour.

“This, to me, describes the behaviour that is abhorrent. It is the behaviour that is completely and utterly unacceptable at Victoria Police.”

Mr Guerin is not the first cop to find their career destroyed following the uncovering of dubious online posts.

Gainesville Police Officers John Nordman, Michael Hamill, centre, and Dan Rengering found themselves viral stars following Hurricane Irma

In December, one of Florida’s so-called “hot cops”, who became globally known after a selfie during a clean-up operation in the wake of Hurricane Irma, left the force under his own cloud.

Officer Michael Hamill, one of three Gainesville cops dubbed “hunkapotumuses” was placed under investigation in September after “several citizens” spotted hate-fuelled posts, reported the New York Post.

He was also reported for having sex while on duty.

Mr Hamill had made anti-Semitic jokes on Facebook years before joining the force and had suggested that “stupid people” should be put “in an oven” and dealt with “the Hitler way,” screenshots showed.

One of the posts read: “Here is one for everybody, ‘What’s the difference between boy scouts and Jews?’ anybody know? well it is because ‘Boy Scouts come back from their camps.’”

When one commenter denounced the post, calling it “messed up,” Hamill replied: “u don’t like it? Don’t read it then.”

The department had initially suspended him with pay on September 15 as it launched an investigation.

Originally published as Bizarre sexist and racist rants linked to top Victorian cop