Police chief backed despite fake breathos
Victoria’s Police Minister has been forced to defend the state’s chief commissioner after it was revealed police had been faking alcohol breath tests.
Victoria’s Police Minister has been forced to defend the state’s chief commissioner after it was revealed police had faked more than 258,000 alcohol breath tests over a five-year period.
Neil Comrie, police chief commissioner from 1993 to 2001, will lead an investigation into why officers simulated roadside alcohol breath tests by either placing a finger over the straw entry hole or blowing into the straw themselves to “hide or highlight productivity”.
The controversy comes after a difficult six months for the police force. It has weathered an African youth crime wave, accusations of police brutality, and the resignation of the force’s head of professional standards over offensive social media posts.
Police Minister Lisa Neville said yesterday Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton had her full support, despite mounting criticism. “As soon as this came to the attention of the chief commissioner, he undertook perhaps the most extensive investigation that has ever occurred … so I absolutely have confidence in him,” she said.
“I have 100 per cent confidence in police leadership.
“The chief commissioner … came into a rising crime rate and we’ve been able to achieve the biggest drop in the crime rate in over a decade.
“I have complete confidence in the senior command — they are absolutely up to the job.”
Kel Glare, chief commissioner from 1987 to 1992, said Mr Ashton should consider his position.
“I don’t blame Ashton for this (breath test controversy) as he doesn’t have the finger on the pulse, this stuff just happens around him,” he said. “I think he should examine his conscience and consider his position.”
Former National Crime Commission chairman Peter Faris QC did not call on Mr Ashton to resign but said he had failed to show leadership recently.
“I think a lot of these issues are systemic … but I just think he is not executing leadership,” he said.
“He’s on leave again … he’s never there … the first thing he needs to do is come back from leave and front up.”
Mr Ashton is on annual leave for three weeks, starting this week, and previously took six weeks off in summer due to physical and mental exhaustion.
During his summer leave, police were plagued by a series of home invasions, muggings and brawls linked to youths of African appearance. On his return, Mr Ashton announced a taskforce to combat the problem.
In subsequent months, police were hit by accusations of disproportionate use of force during arrests. And Professional Standards chief Brett Guerin resigned in February after it was revealed he had been writing offensive comments online under a fake name.
A police spokeswoman said Mr Ashton was on planned annual leave and Acting Chief Commissioner Wendy Steendam was “more than capable of managing this issue”.
Victoria Police is mandated by law to perform 1.1 million breath tests a year but the force has done more than three million in the past 12 months. The state budget has accounted for 3.5 million breath tests in the coming year on the advice of police.
The recent audit considered a series of complex algorithms, including how long it would take to administer one test, to conclude that 258,643 tests were faked.
Ms Steendam told Melbourne’s 3AW radio the faked breath tests were not illegal but that an ongoing investigation could uncover criminal acts.
“Certainly there’s a long way still to go in this investigation and I wouldn’t want to rule that out absolutely,” she said.
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