By Geesche Jacobsen
POLICE investigating themselves are ''inherently biased'' and not interested in determining if officers have committed a crime, the co-convener of the National Police Accountability Network says.
A Melbourne solicitor, Tamar Hopkins, called for Australian states to introduce independent investigations of critical incidents, echoing calls by the NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge.
Call for independent investigations of critical incidents ... Greens MP David Shoebridge.Credit: Andrew Quilty
But the former state coroner John Abernethy said homicide police were best placed to investigate deaths in custody - such as that of 21-year-old Brazilian Roberto Laudisio Curti. ''Historically they produce very good investigations,'' he said.
Mr Abernethy, the coroner from 2000 to 2007, said while some police investigations had been criticised, there had been ''hundreds'' of good ones.
''The problem with having some other agency investigating police - I don't know of an agency with the necessary skills,'' he said.
Deaths in custody in NSW are always examined by a coroner, assisted by a barrister. The Ombudsman and Police Integrity Commission have oversight.
''I feel the system is fine, there are checks and balances in place,'' Mr Abernethy said.
He said he expected the coroner examining Mr Curti's death to look at making recommendations for a change of police Taser use.
Ms Hopkins said oversight over investigations by police of police were not enough. ''I've never actually seen oversight uncover crucial early deficiencies in investigations,'' she said.
''Internal investigations are inherently biased. The whole mentality of police is to protect its own. They are interested in looking after the welfare of the officers and explaining and justifying the actions of police rather than discovering whether a criminal offence has been committed.''
She said the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland and Ontario's Special Investigations Unit were independent organisations which investigated police. England and New Zealand had also moved towards this model, she said.
The Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland had a reputation of being ''fiercely independent'' said Professor Tim Prenzler of the Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security.
''It's a model that we should have adopted in Australia years ago,'' he said.
He said that while police tried to solve the ''classic conflict of interest'' by appointing senior officers or those from other regions, the problem of ''organisational solidarity'' remained.
University of Western Sydney policing academic Dr Michael Kennedy said the PIC, the Ombudsman or the AFP were unsuitable to investigate NSW police. Any external investigating body needed to be ''depoliticised, transparent and open'', he said.
''You are asking organisations people have no confidence in at all - the political establishment and the legal establishment - to set up an independent tribunal to investigate the behaviour of an organisation that both of them have a long history of disliking.''
Referring to the CBD Taser shooting, Mr Shoebridge said those asking the questions, taking statements and checking with third-party witnesses should be independent of the NSW Police. He has written to the Police Integrity Commission asking it to intervene.
''A modest oversight role for the Ombudsman is not sufficient to get to the truth of the matter,'' he said.
A spokesman for the Police Minister, Mike Gallacher, said the Ombudsman's oversight of the investigation, a coronial inquest and the fact homicide, professional standards and police from other local area commands were part of the investigation ensured its independence.
with Anna Patty