NEWS > 24 September 2006

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Hearld Sun
24 September 2006

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'He was just doing his job'

THE father of a detective accused of bashing a suspect with a phone says police bosses are to blame for the Armed Offenders Squad scandal.

In a sensational open letter to Premier Steve Bracks, former Det-Insp Bryan Dabb claims well-intentioned officers are being overworked to exhaustion in a dysfunctional force.
Now a few over-eager officers are being "hung out to dry" through the Office of Police Integrity public hearings into alleged bashings in order to cover up wider issues, he writes.

Officers and their families have been subjected to Orwellian-style phone tapping and surveillance and their rights to justice have been swept away, he claims.

The 40-year police veteran also claims force morale is at an all-time low.

And he warns that the disbanding of the Armed Offenders Squad will result in many serious crimes going unsolved and unpunished.

Sen-Det Rob Dabb is one of nine squad members to come under public scrutiny in the OPI hearing.

Sen-Det Dabb, who collapsed in the witness box after video clips were shown to the hearing this week, is alleged to have bashed a suspect with a telephone as other officers slapped, punched and kicked him.

Sen-Det Dabb and two colleagues have been suspended on full pay pending the hearing's outcome.

But Mr Dabb said while officers may have been over-zealous in trying to take a shotgun from a criminal, they were simply aiming to prevent it from used on innocent people in the community.

"I don't condone violence, but we're talking about some of the most dangerous people in Victoria here," Mr Dabb said.

"They were just trying to do their job -- and it's a very difficult and stressful job."

In his letter to Mr Bracks, he says: "You work these young men and women day and night, which puts them and their families under tremendous stress.

"I have seen people come out of this squad broken in spirit and marriage. The organisation had little feeling for their welfare."

Mr Dabbs says his sense of personal privacy has been destroyed as a result of the OPI probe.

"We have felt like prisoners in our homes, frightened to discuss private issues," Mr Dabbs writes.

"Is this the price that families have to pay for having sons and daughters in your police force?"

Mr Dabb said yesterday the OPI hearing set a disturbing precedent that should worry all Victorians.

"This is effectively a star chamber. Eventually will we all lose our rights?" he said.

The scandal could also prompt a glut of appeals against convictions resulting from squad investigations.

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Article sourced from

Hearld Sun24 September 2006

'He was just doing his job'

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Hearld Sun
24 September 2006