NEWS > 23 November 2006

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Sydney Morning Herald - Sydney
23 November 2006

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Stressed top cop may be force'

THE future of Assistant Commissioner Mark Goodwin, the public face of police during the Cronulla riots, is in serious doubt after he extended his stress leave until the middle of next month.

Speculation is mounting that Mr Goodwin will become the latest senior police figure to take medical retirement after a scandal. A former deputy commissioner, Dave Madden, and a former senior assistant commissioner, Dick Adams, have both departed in the past 18 months.

Mr Goodwin went on "anxiety leave" on October 25, initially for a fortnight, after the release of the report by the former assistant commissioner Norm Hazzard which criticised his role in the riots. The report ultimately led to Carl Scully's sacking as police minister.

The extension to Mr Goodwin's stress leave, confirmed by the office of the Commissioner, Ken Moroney, means he will be off work on the anniversary of the riots.

The news came as other senior officers, including Mr Moroney, were strongly criticised in a report by a parliamentary committee completing a review of the police oversight system, introduced during the Wood royal commission.

The Government is understood to have considered centralising some oversight mechanisms of the Police Integrity Commission and the Ombudsman to cut red tape.

Police, including Mr Moroney, gave evidence to the committee in August saying the Government needed to overhaul the system.

Assistant Commissioner John Carroll told the committee the Ombudsman's office, which oversees all internal police complaints, was "micro-managing" cases.

But the committee's chairman, the Labor MP Paul Lynch, wrote in his foreword to the report that the senior officers who gave evidence provided "inaccurate, misleading information" and "uninformed opinion". He said it appeared at times that committee members had a better understanding of the rules than the officers.

The committee found against the police and for the Ombudsman, saying the current system and roles of the PIC and Ombudsman should not change.

It also called on police to ensure the most minor of complaints did not go through the complaints management system.

A spokesman for Mr Moroney said the recommendations would be forwarded to a police ministry review on the complaints system which had been announced by the Premier, Morris Iemma.

But he said NSW Police had been called only once to give evidence "and they offered honestly and genuinely held beliefs and opinions".

The Police Minister, John Watkins, said yesterday the ministry review would investigate "if there is any further opportunity to remove bureaucracy from the complaints process". Mr Watkins's office also confirmed it had not heard from Mr Goodwin since the minister rang him in October, after replacing Mr Scully.

If Mr Goodwin were to take medical retirement, he would join Mr Madden, who retired after an investigation began into claims he leaked information about a phone tap, and Mr Adams. He left after an internal affairs investigation into the purchase of an expensive desk for his office.

Both were later cleared of wrongdoing.

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Article sourced from

Sydney Morning Herald - Sydney23 November 2006

Stressed top cop may be force'

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Sydney Morning Herald - Sydney
23 November 2006