Queensland police commissioner told to take action over Doomadgee death on Palm Island

QUEENSLAND'S Police Commissioner has been given 14 days to advise what action he will take against six officers over the flawed Doomadgee investigation.

QUEENSLAND Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson has been given 14 days to advise what action he will take against six officers criticised over the flawed investigation of the death of Mulrunji Doomadgee.

The state's anti-corruption agency has found that Mr Atkinson “tolerated” a culture of cover-up in the 10,000-strong force and must be held accountable for deeply flawed investigations into the 2004 death in custody of Palm Islander Doomadgee.

As reported in The Australian this morning, the report by the Crime and Misconduct Commission is scathing of Mr Atkinson and warns that standards in the police have slipped dramatically, invoking comparison with those that allowed corruption to flourish in the pre-Fitzgerald era.

Releasing the bombshell report this morning, CMC chairman Martin Moynihan ramped up pressure on Mr Atkinson by demanding that he advise within 14 days what action he will take against six senior police criticised in the report.

The CMC has recommended disciplinary action against four of them for misconduct, but stopped short of calling for criminal prosecutions.

However, the agency issued an unprecedented warning to Mr Atkinson that it would apply to a civil tribunal to act against the officers if the commissioner's “intended course of action” did not satisfy it.

“I am now looking to the Police Commissioner to acknowledge the flawed and unacceptable conduct of the officers involved in both the initial police investigation and the QPS review,” Mr Moynihan said.

“He must step up, take strong, decisive action and restore confidence of the public - and its own members - in the police service.”

Mr Atkinson responded to the report today in a video posted on the Queensland police YouTube channel, saying he had "always acknowledged that the initial investigation ... could have been handled better".

"But the police service has learnt a great deal. We have changed the way we do things," he said.

"We are committed to having this resolved but it's important that that be done in a considered, fair and evidence-basd way.

"It is time to bring this matter to and end so that everyone can move on."

The report said an internal police review of the original investigation into Doomadgee's death in the Palm Island watchhouse on November 19, 2004, perpetuated the investigative failings.

Both investigations suggested there was a belief within the QPS that the best way to protect the reputation of the police service was for police to turn “a blind eye to to actions of their colleagues which are substandard”.

”The investigations were characterised by double standards and an unwillingness to publicly acknowledge failings on the part of the police,” Mr Moynihan said.

“The Police Commissioner has tolerated these self-protecting aspects of the culture and must be held accountable for the flawed Palm Island Review,” he said of the internal inquiry into the initial investigation into the death in custody.

“He supported and defended the police review process, including the spirit and intent of the findings.”

The report caps six years of intense controversy over Doomadgee's death, which provoked a riot by Aborigines on the north Queensland island, a failed prosecution for manslaughter of the policeman who allegedly inflicted the fatal injuries on the 36-year-old man and three coronial inquests.

The final inquest, which reported last month, found that Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley fell heavily on Doomadgee during a scuffle at the lockup, but said no finding could be made whether this was accidental or deliberate.

Sergeant Hurley, however, had probably lied when he repeatedly denied that he had made physical contact with Doomadgee, acting Coroner Brian Hine said.

Mr Atkinson denied this morning that Hurley, who remains with the QPS, had recently been promoted.

Asked about the QPS's relationship with the CMC, he said it was “professional”.
 

Additional reporting: Rosanne Barrett