Victoria Police paid out $4 million in secret settlements last year, $20 million in past decade
VICTORIA Police has paid out nearly $21 million dollars for rogue cops caught using excessive force, detaining people without cause and false imprisonment in the past decade.
Law & Order
Don't miss out on the headlines from Law & Order. Followed categories will be added to My News.
VICTORIA Police has paid out more than $20.9 million in the last decade as a result of assaults, false imprisonment and other bad behaviour by rogue officers.
The bill last financial year for court payouts and private settlements topped more than $4 million, up from $2.4 million in 2015/16.
However, many cases remain secret, with victims required to submit to strict confidentiality agreements, stopping them from publicly revealing bad experiences at the hands of Victorian officers.
COPS SUSPENDED OVER POLICE BRUTALITY
INSIDE THE VICTORIA POLICE ACADEMY
Experts said known cases include people beaten by police, a man falsely jailed for a rape he did not commit, and Victorians being harassed over crimes without any evidence they were involved.
The figure has been released under Freedom of Information laws and comes after four officers were suspended after CCTV footage widely shown by the media revealed a group of police mistreating a disabled pensioner after they called at his home.
The officers used capsicum spray before dragging him into the front yard and hosing him down with water.
The incident is under investigation and it is understood the victim has launched civil proceedings.
At the time, Police Minister Lisa Neville denied police training was inadequate and said bad behaviour was not systematic among the ranks.
Principal lawyer Jeremy King of Robinson Gill said his firm now receives up to three inquiries a day regarding police conduct.
“We would have between 150 to 200 files and that would indicate a spike,’’ Mr King said.
He believed that people had become more aware of their rights, leading to a rise in the number of cases reported.
The advancement of video technology on mobile phones and CCTV is also being credited for the upward trend.
Mr King called on police to be “more transparent” about cases, to help rebuild public trust in the force.
Police spokeswoman Beck Angel said cases were rare.
“The number of civil litigation matters referred to Victoria Police is relatively small compared to the 14,000 interactions police have with the public every day,” she said.
“Each year Victoria Police receives between 15 and 30 writs,” she said.
“These matters could be in relation to a number of reasons such as alleged false imprisonments, assaults, malicious prosecutions and property damage.
“On average, litigation can run for up to two years and longer in some cases before reaching a conclusion. This means there may be up to 50 active matters being dealt with at any one time.
“Whilst we cannot predict future trends, Victoria Police expects there will always be a small number of civil litigation matters referred to them.”