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| NEWS > 10 December 2006 |
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Police reel at breakdown in se
THE state's most senior detective is among scores of staff to have worked for Victoria Police without appropriate security clearance over the past three years.
A recent internal audit found that 85 employees, including Deputy Commissioner Simon Overland, had not been fingerprinted in accordance with standard security procedures when they joined the organisation in 2003.
The revelation that 10 police officers and 75 unsworn staff had not been properly checked is the latest embarrassment for Victoria Police. It has also been forced to admit serious breaches of its confident... Read more
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 Article sourced from
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The Age - Melbourne,Victoria,A
10 December 2006
This article appeared in the above title/site.
To view it in its entirity click this link.
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Job register would put police
TODAY in The Sunday Age, the Office of Police Integrity calls for a register of police members' "secondary employment" to be set up. The register would contain all details of after-hours, weekend or holiday jobs that each and every officer has.
Such a register would mean that, for the first time, police command would know how many members have other jobs and what those jobs are. The corruption watchdog estimates that up to half of Victoria's 11,000 police work second jobs.
In making the call, the OPI is not alleging that police who work outside the force are corrupt or have conflicts of interests; there is no demand that police be banned from taking other jobs.
What the watchdog seeks to achieve is the ability to easily spot potential conflicts of interest and jobs that would put police members in situations where they could be seen to be corrupt or could possibly become corruptible.
At the moment, members need permission from their district commander and secondary employment is not logged. This system, which seems wide open to abuse, is far from best practice. Victoria is the only mainland state that doesn't have a central register for police who have second jobs.
Up to the early 1990s, as police force after police force across Australia was hit by corruption scandals, Victoria Police remained proud of its reputation as the cleanest force in the country. That pride, as it turned out, was based on a sad mix of self-delusion and illusion.
As with other Australian police forces at the time, Victoria Police had many members who were on the take. Since then, there have been several scandals and a massive clean-out, including the abolition of a number of squads. Police have been jailed on corruption-related charges. And the job of the anti-corruption investigators is far from over.
The argument that only a tiny minority is corrupt is, of course, true. Police members who work second jobs would be appalled at the very idea they might have a conflict of interest. But police must be, like Caesar's wife, above suspicion. Trust in police is crucial for the proper functioning of our system of law and order and of society.
A central register would have many benefits, including for police. Members would know that there is a record of any extra work they do, that such work has been approved and that the public would not perceive a conflict of interest if they are booked for speeding one day and have the same person turn up to cut their lawn the next.
Victoria Police has officially resisted the call for a register, saying there would be no change in the management of external employment. The Police Association has, naturally, used the opportunity to call for a pay rise.
But the issue of a central register goes well beyond management practices or pay scales. Police must not only be honest, they must be seen to be honest. An employment register would both help prevent corruption and be seen to prevent corruption. Victoria Police must take control of the secondary jobs that up to 5500 of its members have. A register is the obvious way to do that.
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