Crime and Corruption Commission to interview police about dodgy data scandal
THE Crime and Corruption Commission has launched an investigation after the dodgy police crime statistics data scandal on the Gold Coast.
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THE Crime and Corruption Commission is looking into the dodgy data police scandal, it can be revealed.
A report by the Auditor General released to State Parliament late last month was scathing of the gathering of crime statistics in the Coast district, having found police were pressured into fudging figures.
The Gold Coast Bulletin reported in January that a senior officer was allegedly directing junior cops to reduce clearance for crimes in certain circumstances.
A report later alleged the crime officers had tried to inform a senior manager only to be “shafted” and given their marching orders from Surfers Paradise.
A police source told the Gold Coast Bulletin: “The CCC was at Coomera police station last week. They were interviewing officers and interested in getting their feedback to the Auditor General’s report.
“The crime managers felt pressured, they were moved. There is a feeling (among police on the beat) that there has been unreasonable management action.”
The Queensland Police Union last night confirmed it had made an official complaint to the CCC.
QPU secretary Mick Barnes admitted “we were left with no choice other than to lodge formal complaints with the CCC” about the conduct of senior commissioned officers towards the officers who raised the issues.
“The police department’s hierarchy on the one hand pay lip service to try and encourage officers to come forward with complaints yet at the same time when police actually do come forward they appear to be targeted with retribution by the very same management that previously encouraged them to come forward,” he said.
The Gold Coast Bulletin understands a CCC has been asked to focus on the reasons why the officers were split up within a week of making an official complaint and forced to pack-up their desks at Surfers Paradise station.
In a letter to the Auditor General, Police Commissioner Ian Stewart complimented the role of the crime managers, saying “I would like to acknowledge those QPS officers who came forward to help identify the crime reporting issues”.
QPS said the crime managers were previously co-located within an office belonging to intelligence officers from a state-based command at the Surfers Paradise police complex.
“Due to the new growth positions for that command, the district was requested to vacate the offices occupied by the crime managers to facilitate the arrival and co-location of new intelligence officers within the district intelligence unit,” the police spokesman said, at the time.
The Bulletin had reported one of the crime managers was forced to work in the corridor at a station.
A CCC spokesperson in a statement yesterday said: “The CCC is currently assessing matters relating to the reporting of crime statistics by the QPS including items raised in a recent Queensland Audit Office report. It is important to note that an assessment is not an investigation. As this matter is under assessment the CCC is unable to comment further.”
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