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| NEWS > 09 November 2006 |
Other related articles:
Federal monitor raises concern
LOS ANGELES- A May 1 clash at an immigration rally, when police wielded batons and fired rubber bullets into a crowd, raises questions about the progress of officer training since a corruption scandal forced reforms several years ago, a new report says.
The report by Michael Cherkasky, an independent monitor overseeing reform of the Los Angeles Police Department , said the incident should not obscure the department's significant progress over the past six years, but it did raise concerns about some elements of the f... Read more
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The Australian - Sydney,Austra
09 November 2006
This article appeared in the above title/site.
To view it in its entirity click this link.
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Ex-police chief to check drug
A FORMER Northern Territory police commissioner will conduct a wide-ranging review of the Victorian force's investigation into corruption in the state's disgraced drug squad.
The appointment by Victoria's corruption watchdog - the Office of Police Integrity - of Brian Bates is likely to embarrass force command, which has consistently claimed to have adequately handled allegations levelled at members of the squad.
The review will examine Victoria Police procedures and whether the specially formed Ceja taskforce exhausted all avenues of inquiry.
The police were intent to leave the investigation into the drug squad to Ceja, rejecting the need for an independent corruption commission.
But some members of the Ceja taskforce say they were never able to fully investigate drug squad corruption and claim up to two dozen officers suspected of being corrupt have never been sanctioned.
Some Ceja members say they have been bullied by other police officers after they returned to normal duties, while others have left the force disillusioned.
Detective Bill Patten, a former Ceja member, last month spoke out, claiming Victoria Police had failed to deal with corrupt members and many were still serving.
"I'd put a figure between 12 and 24 that I could confidently say are either corrupt or contributed to corruption," Sergeant Patten told the ABC.
Other members of the taskforce told The Australian they were overwhelmed by the scale of corruption within Victoria Police, and management's handling of errant officers had become "a joke".
Sources say Ceja did not have enough resources and was only able to investigate high-priority cases and many allegations were yet to be properly looked at.
They say an independent commission into Victoria Police is long overdue, and that the Office of Police Integrity, which was hastily formed in 2004 after corruption allegations reached crisis point, will not be able to adequately overhaul the force.
Victoria's disgraced drug squad was disbanded in late 2001 after widespread allegations of corruption, including drug trafficking and the mishandling of informers.
Ceja was formed to look at allegations uncovered in an earlier investigation that saw the jailing of a former drug squad member.
Although six members of the squad investigated by Ceja have been dealt with by the courts, nobody in management or any officer above senior sergeant has been held accountable for a culture that presided over policies described by former ombudsman Barry Perry as an "unmitigated disaster".
So far, the highest profile member prosecuted by the Ceja taskforce is former senior sergeant Wayne Geoffrey Strawhorn, a once respected investigator who was found guilty last month in the Victorian Supreme Court of trafficking in a commercial quantity of drugs.
A spokesman for the Office of Police Integrity denied the review of Ceja was prompted by Sergeant Patten's complaints and said Mr Bates's report would be tabled early next year.
"We are pleased to have someone of Brian's depth and experience conducting the review," the spokesman said.
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