Ombudsman criticises Vic Police

Victoria's police watchdog has slammed officers who, it says, have looked after
their drink-driving mates and accepted freebies that could be construed as bribes.
And the state ombudsman George Brouwer has criticised the force for failing to
implement more than half of his recommendations relating to the accuracy of crime
statistics.
Victoria Police this year introduced new rules on conflict of interest, but Office
of Police Integrity (OPI) director Michael Strong says investigations still show
police do not adequately recognise and manage conflict of interest.
"Understanding that conflict of interest is not something to hide will help
circumvent the types of mistakes, lies and cover-ups encountered in these cases," Mr
Strong said in his report tabled to state parliament on Thursday.
In one case, a liquor licensing inspector in Melbourne accepted two tickets worth a
total of $500 from the promoter of a licensed event.
He did not record receiving the tickets and offered them to friends, who did not
accept them. He did not use the tickets himself.
"The gift was ... controversial because the inspector regulated the licensed event
and would continue to regulate it in years to come," Mr Strong said.
"The free tickets could be seen as an incentive or reward for favourable treatment -
a bribe."
In a separate case, an off-duty sergeant encouraged a junior officer to let off a
driver who was over the legal alcohol limit.
After testing over 0.05, the driver used a mobile to call a mate, who happened to be
an off-duty police sergeant. The driver then handed the phone to a police constable
at the scene who spoke with the sergeant.
Following the conversation with the more senior officer, the constable decided not
to take the driver to a police station for another breath test and a negative result
for the preliminary breath test was recorded.
"Police should not expose a colleague to a decision where he or she has a conflict
of interest, and they should not allow their own conflict to become someone else's,"
Mr Strong said.
A Victoria Police spokeswoman said the cases referred to in the OPI's report had
been investigated by the Ethical Standards Department.
Mr Brouwer launched an investigation in April 2008 after the opposition complained
there was the potential for manipulation of crime statistics.
The ombudsman found some police use the procedures for recording cleared crimes to
make it appear more offences have been solved than is actually the case.
Victoria Police accepted 19 of Mr Brouwer's recommendations to improve procedures in
March 2009 but has implemented just nine.
"I consider that Victoria Police has had sufficient time to progress further than it
has," he said.
Mr Brouwer said Victoria Police had advised him that of the 10 recommendations it
had not implemented, four were being implemented while the remaining six were on
hold pending advice from the OPI and the National Crime Statistics Unit.



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