Fifteen Gold Coast police officers face corruption probe
AN investigation will be launched into 15 Gold Coast police officers after a corruption probe by the state watchdog triggered by revelations of a spike in crime in the city.
Crime and Court
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FIFTEEN Gold Coast police officers are facing an internal investigation for alleged corruption and misconduct.
The officers have been referred to the police Ethical Standards Command by the Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) after an investigation into alleged dodgy crime statistics and bullying of police whistleblowers.
The investigation comes after the Gold Coast Bulletin in January reported senior police were keeping major violent crime secret and fudging data to improve clearance rates.
Police insiders said senior officers acted after the Gold Coast Bulletin reported a 66 per cent jump in crime on the Gold Coast.
A subsequent investigation by the Auditor General found an “unhealthy focus on achieving performance targets” and victims being encouraged to withdraw complaints.
In a series of reports under its Grim Blue Line banner, the Bulletin also revealed:
● Three police whistleblowers were immediately sent to other stations. One of them was working in the corridor at Southport.
● Women’s welfare groups wrote to the Government concerned about sexual assault victims urged by police not to take action. In the year to October 2015, rape and attempted rape cases spiked 51 per cent. A year later police announced a dramatic decrease in sexual offences.
The CCC last night said it found no evidence of formal directions being given to alter crime statistics. However, a subsequent damning Queensland Audit Office (QAO) report found an “unhealthy focus on achieving performance targets” and victims being encouraged to withdraw complaints.
The CCC said the report found officers were pressured to achieve “aspirational” performance targets and subjected to verbal intimidation and negative workplace behaviours by a number of senior officers to encourage them to meet those targets.
It also found officers who had assisted the QAO investigation were subjected to “negative workplace behaviours by some senior officers”.
In relation to alleged bullying and behaviours, the CCC last night wrote: “The CCC’s preliminary inquiries did not find evidence that raised a reasonable suspicion of corrupt conduct or police misconduct. It did however find evidence relating to an expression-of-interest process for both commissioned and non-commissioned officers.
“The CCC was told that, due to the behaviour of some senior officers, most people chose not to apply to relieve in a particular position. This led some people to believe that the officers who were given relieving opportunities in the position were being favoured.”
In summary, the CCC last night wrote: “In relation to ongoing campaigns of bullying, victimisation and favouritism, reprisals, negative workplace behaviours and officers failing to properly report misconduct, the inquiries made by the CCC found evidence to support a reasonable suspicion in relation to 19 matters involving corrupt conduct and 14 matters involving police misconduct. In total, 15 officers were involved in these matters.
“Of the 14 police misconduct matters referred to above, 12 relate to officers failing to properly report misconduct by other officers in relation to matters disclosed to them regarding inappropriate practices about the reporting of crime statistics.
“The other two police misconduct matters relate to unprofessional behaviour by a senior QPS officer towards other police officers and QAO staff, and negative workplace behaviour by another senior QPS officer towards a junior officer.”
The CCC said the QPS had taken the necessary steps to rectify the data anomalies identified by the QAO.
The CCC has not made any final determinations in relation to the allegations but has found enough evidence to warrant further investigation by the QPS.
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