Showing posts with label pic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pic. Show all posts

Monday, 8 December 2008

Charge officers over falsified breath tests: PIC


According to the PIC, at the station, Senior Constable Mark Ronald Christie took the second breath test for Mr Clunes, which was negative and Mr Clunes was not charged.

Three police officers should be charged with perverting the course of justice after allegedly falsifying alcohol breath tests to help two well-connected suspects escape prosecution, the Police Integrity Commission recommends.

The allegations relate to incidents in Moree and Orange late last year.

The PIC did not recommend any charges against superiors and a senior officer in the Corrective Services Department, who discussed the incidents with some of the officers before the second breath test in each case.

In the first incident, in September last year, an officer of the Corrective Services Department, David John Webb, was pulled over for a random breath test outside Moree. He returned a reading of .095, well above the legal limit.

But when he was taken back to the police station, officers recognised him, because he worked out of the same station.

The PIC, in a report released today, says Senior Constable Phillip William Smith agreed with a colleague, Senior Constable James William Boaden, that Senior Constable Smith would take a second breath test for Mr Webb at the station. This test recorded a zero blood alcohol level and no charges were laid.

Senior Constable Smith told the PIC inquiry that Mr Webb's boss, Corrective Services Department Assistant Superintendent John Arthur Weavers, "virtually" said to him: "Can't you get someone else to blow into the bag?"

Superintendent Weavers told the PIC he had no recollection of the conversation because he was intoxicated, but "may have" said this.

Senior Constable Smith also told the inquiry that his boss, Inspector Jeffrey Budd, had told him to "be careful" about the case, which he had interpreted to mean he should not charge Mr Webb.

Inspector Budd told the commission he asked Senior Constable Smith to treat Mr Webb like any other offender.

In the second incident, in December last year, Adam Colin Clunes, the son of a police officer, recorded a reading of .202 in a random breath test on a road in Orange.

According to the PIC, at the station, Senior Constable Mark Ronald Christie took the second breath test for Mr Clunes, which was negative and Mr Clunes was not charged.

Senior Constable Christie told the inquiry he felt empathy for Mr Clunes and was overwhelmed by the situation. He said he had been involved in several high-stress incidents, had been assaulted and took medication to relieve stress.

The PIC heard that Mr Clunes's father, Senior Constable Colin Clunes had allegedly told another officer: "You've got to do something ... he'll lose his licence", and that Senior Constable Clunes had previously been unhappy when his son had received a traffic fine.

But Senior Constable Clunes told the inquiry he was angry with his son and did not intend for the officer to believe he wanted her to do something to stop his son from losing his licence.

The PIC recommended that senior constables Smith, Boaden and Christie be charged.

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Wednesday, 29 October 2008

Record level of complaints against NSW police

The number of complaints against NSW police has grown to a record level of more than 1000, new data reveals.

The Police Integrity Commission received 1422 complaints in the past financial year.

The figure represents an increase of 15 per cent in complaints, continuing the steady rise in the number of complaints seen over the past several years.

However, the Commission decided to pursue only 95 of the complaints, with its Investigations Unit "recommending that consideration be given to commencing either a preliminary or full investigation", it noted in its 2007/08 annual report, released today.

The largest category of complaint received was 'improper association' by police with 143 complaints, followed by 137 cases with complaints of improper disclosure of information, and 112 cases of misuse of authority.

There were also 30 cases alleging police had perverted the course of justice, with 47 offences punishable by a maximum five-year prison sentence, the report shows.

During the past financial year, the Commission held public hearings in relation to Operations Pegasus and Luno, concerning allegations that NSW police "engaged in serious police misconduct related to the road side breath testing of persons in regional areas".

Reports on these two investigations is to be presented to State parliament before year-end.