Cop Watch - drugs in the force
Cop Watcher | 08.10.2005 11:43 | Analysis | World
Taking the illegal drugs leads to the officers associating with drug suppliers, stealing drugs, stealing money and supplying friends, and providing confidential information to the drug suppliers.
Parties and nightclubs and that was it,
AUSTRALIA: Lots of drugs, official reports, more police corruption.
An unknown number of officers in the NSW Police Force are drugged up to their eyeballs, according to a Report just released by the NSW Police Integrity Commission.
Taking the illegal drugs leads to the officers associating with drug suppliers, stealing drugs, stealing money and supplying friends, and providing confidential information to the drug suppliers.
The drugs include amphetamines, cannabis, heroin and cocaine.
The 4 volume Report on drugs in the NSW Police force, which received little media attention, can be seen in full at
http://www.pic.nsw.gov.au/Reports_List.asp?type=Operational
A FORMER POLICE OFFICER WHO TRIED TO DO THE RIGHT THING, prosecute a senior Catholic priest accused of child-sex crimes, was drummed out of the police force, according to the October 3 Australian.
According to documents obtained by The Australian under Freedom of Information laws 30 years after the event, Denis Ryan was disciplined by being removed to Melbourne from a remote country post: this was done to prevent him from pursuing the charges against the abusing priest.
Mr Ryan had taken statements from 16 children saying that they had been abused, but none of the matters reached court. Mr Ryan is attempting to obtain more disclosures under the FOI legislation preparatory to a civil action against his former employer.
POLICE IN TASMANIA ARE ASKING FOR MORE COPPERS TO CLOSE BROTHELS, according to the Oct 7 Mercury.
The copper's union, the Police Association of Tasmania, has said that they would need more cops and wide powers, following the state government's plan to shutdown the state's brothels.
Community groups and sex workers are opposed to the crackdown.
Tasmanian sexual-abuse support group Beyond Abuse warned that driving brothels underground would mean that an illegal and unregulated industry would allow children to become involved in prostitution.
The new law is expected to include five-year jail terms or $50,000 fines for operators of brothels.
MORE CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION is being thrown like confetti to the wind, according to the Oct 5 Melbourne Courier Mail.
Acting Deputy Commissioner Noel Ashby said officers have been told not to use the backs of confidential investigation documents for note paper, which then end up being circulated.
Mr Ashby said that a pad of such documents was stolen from Frankston Police Station, in Melbourne, on Friday of last week.
Confidentiality is a sore spot at the moment, as the Victorian government decided in August to ditch the police force computer system after tens of thousands of pages of confidential information were wrongly released.
NEARLY ONE IN EIGHT HIGH-SPEED POLICE CAR CHASE ENDS IN A CRASH, for the year ending June, according to the October 6 Sydney Morning Herald.
There were 2146 recorded pursuits over 2004-2005. Of these, there were 284 collisions and 3 deaths.
'The statistics show clearly that even in relation to minor offences, police are continuing to recklessly endanger innocent bystanders,' said the president of the NSW Council for Civil Liberties, Cameron Murphy.
Once again, NSW Police tried to hide the facts by refusing to release the information, only being compelled to do so after a successful freedom of information application.
Mr Murphy continued to say that 'At the moment it seems that when a chase goes right and someone is arrested, there's no real analysis of the conduct. The police just don't get that it isn't worth the life of an innocent bystander or a police officer in order to arrest someone for a minor offence.'
______________________
ANOTHER COPPER, ANOTHER CONVICTION, as the first piggy goes to prison following the Western Australian Police Royal Commission.
According to ABC News online of October 6, former copper Gary Mervyn Fagg, 47, pleased guilty to 7 counts of corruption and one count of aggravated burglary and was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment.
Fagg was filmed stealing $10,000 from a storage unit as part of a sting operation set up by the Commission. He admitted obtaining $21,000 by corruption from a businessman he was investigating.
IN A RARE ACT BY AN OTHERWISE SUPINE OMBUDSMAN, a recommendation has been made which would make the police a bit more accountable.
The ACT's Ombudsman has 'urged' the Australia Federal Police to upgrade video surveillance in the cells of Canberra's watch-house.
The latest Annual Report highlights numerous complaints by prisoners, including minors being detained without their parents being notified, and requests for medical help being ignored.
The ombudsman says it has made repeated calls for the installation of a digital video camera system but the police have refused. Video footage from an existing camera helped prove a claim of excessive force by police against a prisoner. However, the video coverage is patchy and unreliable.
A copy of the ACT Ombudsman Report can be found at
http://act.ombudsman.gov.au/publications_information/Annual_Reports/ar2004-05/index.html
Now for some balance
by Informed One 5:03pm Sat Oct 8 '05 comment#59949
Thank you for the link to PIC report. It makes very interesting reading.
The down-side of doing this, however, is that someone may actually call your bluff and read the whole thing, thereby becoming better informed on the subject that you.
At the time of releasing the report (September 2005), the PIC counted 15,009 officers in the NSW Police Force.
The PIC investigation, which comprised three seperate and discreet enquiries (Operations Icemint, Alpine and Norandra) established that ...wait for it...NINE police officers had used illegal drugs.
Millions of dolars, thousands of investigative and research hours resulted in...wait for it...drum roll please...NINE cops out of a workforce of over 15,000 being identified as using illegal drugs.
Nine.
That's a ratio of 0.00059% of the entire sworn workforce. Hardly indicative of a workforce 'drugged to its eyeballs' (a phrase, incidentally, appearing nowhere in the entire 275 page report).
The PIC goes on to commend the NSW Police for its efforts in reducing illegal drug use by officers, stating that the Force's Drug and Alcohol Policy's emphasis on health and welfare rathe than just disciplinary, reflects world's best practice.
Little chance, however, of those types of facts coming to light in a Cop Watch article. That requires prejudice to be suspended to allow an objective analysis of all relevant facts to be undertaken.
For a full and more detailed account of the above points, more informed readers may care to avail themselves of Volume 2 of the Report (the original link only linked to Volume 4).
http://www.pic.nsw.gov.au/PDF_files/Abelia_Volume_2.pdf
As always, I stand humble as a lone voice of balance, reason and informed comment in the maelstrom of prejudice and ignorance masquerading as intellectual discourse.
Make a rating on this comment.
Hello World
by John Laws 6:54pm Sat Oct 8 '05 comment#59952
Cops on Drugs
An illicit drug culture exists within the ranks of the NSW Police Service with young cops found to be taking speed, cocaine and ecstasy.
Now, in an unprecedented move supported by Police Commissioner Ken Moroney, cops will face random drug tests, even when they are off duty.
The radical move follows a damning report by Police Integrity Commission which found drug use was rife among police and laws need changing to stamp it out.
While allegedly most were using the drugs off-duty, some were found to be under the influence on duty, the report said.
The report, released yesterday, painted a poor picture of young cops using drugs like speed, cocaine, ketamine and marijuana.
It also found cops faking arrests as a "prelude to stealing drugs and money from drug suppliers".
The report follows Operation Abelia, in which officers admitted taking illegal drugs.
It makes 64 recommendations aimed at stamping out illicit drug use.
Mr Moroney has agreed with the PIC that targeted drug testing powers be extended to test cops while they are off-duty.
This would require changes to the Police Act of 1990 and off-duty police to be recalled for the purpose of a drug test.
Mr Moroney said he agreed with all 64 recommendations - most of which involved education policies - but he was angered that there were police still using drugs.
"I congratulate the PIC on its investigation but I am angered that some officers continue to be involved in this illegal activity," he said.
"A tough stance on the issue is the only way to rid the force of drugs."
Cops ecstasy use
A drug culture and rave party scene has infiltrated parts of the NSW Police force, with ecstasy being the most commonly used substance by cops who indulge in the illegal activities.
In the Police Integrity Commission Abelia investigation report, released yesterday, former officer, named as C4, said, at the age of 25, she would take ecstasy and speed to relax after work.
But we all know that's bullshit don't we!
"I just got a bit stressed at work. It was a bit of an escape in the fact that on the weekend, I could just go out and do what I wanted to do," she said.
But how long does the drug stay in the system? Not out of the system whithin the space of a shift and this would accoundt for their shity moods and bullying on the job. Drugs can stay in the system for weeks.
Apart from the stresses of work and personal matters, other cops claimed lifestyle choices were why they took drugs. Some claimed they saw nothing wrong with what they were doing.
But how could that be while busting people for the same offence?
Officer D3, who joined the force at 19, said his girlfriend introduced him to ecstasy and he did not consider himself to be a drug user.
"Ecstasy's a type of drug you wouldn't take at home. Parties and nightclubs and that was it," he said.
Another witness said: "What I do in private is what I do in private."
But that does not make it legal and as I have said these drugs stay in the system for weeks!
The PIC report claimed that of the 15,000 police officers serving in NSW, 5000 - or a third - were under the age of 30. It also found the current drug testing methods could not detect drug use of officers while off-duty.
The inquiry heard from 21 current and former police officers and took 81 case studies of police taking drugs, dealing drugs or involved in misconduct relating to drugs.
It concluded drug use within the NSW Police was a "serious problem".
"Illegal drug use has the capacity to adversely impact on the professionalism and effectiveness of individual officers as well as the organisation as a whole, the integrity and health of the individuals concerned and the safety of colleagues and the community," it said.
"For officers to use illegal drugs means they must have obtained them through some illegal means."
walking a straight line
by sydney activist 7:47pm Sat Oct 8 '05 comment#59954
"The PIC report claimed that of the 15,000 police officers serving in NSW, 5000 - or a third - were under the age of 30. It also found the current drug testing methods could not detect drug use of officers while off-duty."
that last bit isn't clear to me... what method of drug-testing are they using? the touch-your-nose-test?
There are coppers on the dance floor
by FX 8:03pm Sat Oct 8 '05 comment#59957
But you'd better not steal their moves!
There are coppers on the dancefloor, but you better not kill the groove.
Dj, gonna burn this goddamn house right down.
Oh, I know I know I know I know I know I know about your kind. And so and so and so and so and so and so, I'll have to play.
If you think you're getting away, I will proove you wrong. I'll take you all the way, boy, just come along, hear me when I say, hey,
There are coppers on the dancefloor, but you better not kill the groove, hey hey hey hey,
There are coppers on the dancefloor, but you better not steal the moves,
Dj, gonna burn this goddamn house right down,
Oh I know I know I know I know I know I know, there may be others, and so and so and so and so and so and so,
You'll just have to pray
If you think your geting away, I will proove you wrong. I'll take you all the way, stay another song. I'll blow you all away, hey!
There are coppers on the dancefloor, but you better not kill the groove, there are coppers on the dancefloor, but you better not steal the moves.
DJ, gonna turn this house around somehow?
An unknown number of officers in the NSW Police Force are drugged up to their eyeballs, according to a Report just released by the NSW Police Integrity Commission.
Taking the illegal drugs leads to the officers associating with drug suppliers, stealing drugs, stealing money and supplying friends, and providing confidential information to the drug suppliers.
The drugs include amphetamines, cannabis, heroin and cocaine.
The 4 volume Report on drugs in the NSW Police force, which received little media attention, can be seen in full at
http://www.pic.nsw.gov.au/Reports_List.asp?type=Operational A FORMER POLICE OFFICER WHO TRIED TO DO THE RIGHT THING, prosecute a senior Catholic priest accused of child-sex crimes, was drummed out of the police force, according to the October 3 Australian.
According to documents obtained by The Australian under Freedom of Information laws 30 years after the event, Denis Ryan was disciplined by being removed to Melbourne from a remote country post: this was done to prevent him from pursuing the charges against the abusing priest.
Mr Ryan had taken statements from 16 children saying that they had been abused, but none of the matters reached court. Mr Ryan is attempting to obtain more disclosures under the FOI legislation preparatory to a civil action against his former employer.
POLICE IN TASMANIA ARE ASKING FOR MORE COPPERS TO CLOSE BROTHELS, according to the Oct 7 Mercury.
The copper's union, the Police Association of Tasmania, has said that they would need more cops and wide powers, following the state government's plan to shutdown the state's brothels.
Community groups and sex workers are opposed to the crackdown.
Tasmanian sexual-abuse support group Beyond Abuse warned that driving brothels underground would mean that an illegal and unregulated industry would allow children to become involved in prostitution.
The new law is expected to include five-year jail terms or $50,000 fines for operators of brothels.
MORE CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION is being thrown like confetti to the wind, according to the Oct 5 Melbourne Courier Mail.
Acting Deputy Commissioner Noel Ashby said officers have been told not to use the backs of confidential investigation documents for note paper, which then end up being circulated.
Mr Ashby said that a pad of such documents was stolen from Frankston Police Station, in Melbourne, on Friday of last week.
Confidentiality is a sore spot at the moment, as the Victorian government decided in August to ditch the police force computer system after tens of thousands of pages of confidential information were wrongly released.
NEARLY ONE IN EIGHT HIGH-SPEED POLICE CAR CHASE ENDS IN A CRASH, for the year ending June, according to the October 6 Sydney Morning Herald.
There were 2146 recorded pursuits over 2004-2005. Of these, there were 284 collisions and 3 deaths.
'The statistics show clearly that even in relation to minor offences, police are continuing to recklessly endanger innocent bystanders,' said the president of the NSW Council for Civil Liberties, Cameron Murphy.
Once again, NSW Police tried to hide the facts by refusing to release the information, only being compelled to do so after a successful freedom of information application.
Mr Murphy continued to say that 'At the moment it seems that when a chase goes right and someone is arrested, there's no real analysis of the conduct. The police just don't get that it isn't worth the life of an innocent bystander or a police officer in order to arrest someone for a minor offence.'
______________________
ANOTHER COPPER, ANOTHER CONVICTION, as the first piggy goes to prison following the Western Australian Police Royal Commission.
According to ABC News online of October 6, former copper Gary Mervyn Fagg, 47, pleased guilty to 7 counts of corruption and one count of aggravated burglary and was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment.
Fagg was filmed stealing $10,000 from a storage unit as part of a sting operation set up by the Commission. He admitted obtaining $21,000 by corruption from a businessman he was investigating.
IN A RARE ACT BY AN OTHERWISE SUPINE OMBUDSMAN, a recommendation has been made which would make the police a bit more accountable.
The ACT's Ombudsman has 'urged' the Australia Federal Police to upgrade video surveillance in the cells of Canberra's watch-house.
The latest Annual Report highlights numerous complaints by prisoners, including minors being detained without their parents being notified, and requests for medical help being ignored.
The ombudsman says it has made repeated calls for the installation of a digital video camera system but the police have refused. Video footage from an existing camera helped prove a claim of excessive force by police against a prisoner. However, the video coverage is patchy and unreliable.
A copy of the ACT Ombudsman Report can be found at
http://act.ombudsman.gov.au/publications_information/Annual_Reports/ar2004-05/index.html Now for some balance
by Informed One 5:03pm Sat Oct 8 '05 comment#59949
Thank you for the link to PIC report. It makes very interesting reading.
The down-side of doing this, however, is that someone may actually call your bluff and read the whole thing, thereby becoming better informed on the subject that you.
At the time of releasing the report (September 2005), the PIC counted 15,009 officers in the NSW Police Force.
The PIC investigation, which comprised three seperate and discreet enquiries (Operations Icemint, Alpine and Norandra) established that ...wait for it...NINE police officers had used illegal drugs.
Millions of dolars, thousands of investigative and research hours resulted in...wait for it...drum roll please...NINE cops out of a workforce of over 15,000 being identified as using illegal drugs.
Nine.
That's a ratio of 0.00059% of the entire sworn workforce. Hardly indicative of a workforce 'drugged to its eyeballs' (a phrase, incidentally, appearing nowhere in the entire 275 page report).
The PIC goes on to commend the NSW Police for its efforts in reducing illegal drug use by officers, stating that the Force's Drug and Alcohol Policy's emphasis on health and welfare rathe than just disciplinary, reflects world's best practice.
Little chance, however, of those types of facts coming to light in a Cop Watch article. That requires prejudice to be suspended to allow an objective analysis of all relevant facts to be undertaken.
For a full and more detailed account of the above points, more informed readers may care to avail themselves of Volume 2 of the Report (the original link only linked to Volume 4).
http://www.pic.nsw.gov.au/PDF_files/Abelia_Volume_2.pdf As always, I stand humble as a lone voice of balance, reason and informed comment in the maelstrom of prejudice and ignorance masquerading as intellectual discourse.
Make a rating on this comment.
Hello World
by John Laws 6:54pm Sat Oct 8 '05 comment#59952
Cops on Drugs
An illicit drug culture exists within the ranks of the NSW Police Service with young cops found to be taking speed, cocaine and ecstasy.
Now, in an unprecedented move supported by Police Commissioner Ken Moroney, cops will face random drug tests, even when they are off duty.
The radical move follows a damning report by Police Integrity Commission which found drug use was rife among police and laws need changing to stamp it out.
While allegedly most were using the drugs off-duty, some were found to be under the influence on duty, the report said.
The report, released yesterday, painted a poor picture of young cops using drugs like speed, cocaine, ketamine and marijuana.
It also found cops faking arrests as a "prelude to stealing drugs and money from drug suppliers".
The report follows Operation Abelia, in which officers admitted taking illegal drugs.
It makes 64 recommendations aimed at stamping out illicit drug use.
Mr Moroney has agreed with the PIC that targeted drug testing powers be extended to test cops while they are off-duty.
This would require changes to the Police Act of 1990 and off-duty police to be recalled for the purpose of a drug test.
Mr Moroney said he agreed with all 64 recommendations - most of which involved education policies - but he was angered that there were police still using drugs.
"I congratulate the PIC on its investigation but I am angered that some officers continue to be involved in this illegal activity," he said.
"A tough stance on the issue is the only way to rid the force of drugs."
Cops ecstasy use
A drug culture and rave party scene has infiltrated parts of the NSW Police force, with ecstasy being the most commonly used substance by cops who indulge in the illegal activities.
In the Police Integrity Commission Abelia investigation report, released yesterday, former officer, named as C4, said, at the age of 25, she would take ecstasy and speed to relax after work.
But we all know that's bullshit don't we!
"I just got a bit stressed at work. It was a bit of an escape in the fact that on the weekend, I could just go out and do what I wanted to do," she said.
But how long does the drug stay in the system? Not out of the system whithin the space of a shift and this would accoundt for their shity moods and bullying on the job. Drugs can stay in the system for weeks.
Apart from the stresses of work and personal matters, other cops claimed lifestyle choices were why they took drugs. Some claimed they saw nothing wrong with what they were doing.
But how could that be while busting people for the same offence?
Officer D3, who joined the force at 19, said his girlfriend introduced him to ecstasy and he did not consider himself to be a drug user.
"Ecstasy's a type of drug you wouldn't take at home. Parties and nightclubs and that was it," he said.
Another witness said: "What I do in private is what I do in private."
But that does not make it legal and as I have said these drugs stay in the system for weeks!
The PIC report claimed that of the 15,000 police officers serving in NSW, 5000 - or a third - were under the age of 30. It also found the current drug testing methods could not detect drug use of officers while off-duty.
The inquiry heard from 21 current and former police officers and took 81 case studies of police taking drugs, dealing drugs or involved in misconduct relating to drugs.
It concluded drug use within the NSW Police was a "serious problem".
"Illegal drug use has the capacity to adversely impact on the professionalism and effectiveness of individual officers as well as the organisation as a whole, the integrity and health of the individuals concerned and the safety of colleagues and the community," it said.
"For officers to use illegal drugs means they must have obtained them through some illegal means."
walking a straight line
by sydney activist 7:47pm Sat Oct 8 '05 comment#59954
"The PIC report claimed that of the 15,000 police officers serving in NSW, 5000 - or a third - were under the age of 30. It also found the current drug testing methods could not detect drug use of officers while off-duty."
that last bit isn't clear to me... what method of drug-testing are they using? the touch-your-nose-test?
There are coppers on the dance floor
by FX 8:03pm Sat Oct 8 '05 comment#59957
But you'd better not steal their moves!
There are coppers on the dancefloor, but you better not kill the groove.
Dj, gonna burn this goddamn house right down.
Oh, I know I know I know I know I know I know about your kind. And so and so and so and so and so and so, I'll have to play.
If you think you're getting away, I will proove you wrong. I'll take you all the way, boy, just come along, hear me when I say, hey,
There are coppers on the dancefloor, but you better not kill the groove, hey hey hey hey,
There are coppers on the dancefloor, but you better not steal the moves,
Dj, gonna burn this goddamn house right down,
Oh I know I know I know I know I know I know, there may be others, and so and so and so and so and so and so,
You'll just have to pray
If you think your geting away, I will proove you wrong. I'll take you all the way, stay another song. I'll blow you all away, hey!
There are coppers on the dancefloor, but you better not kill the groove, there are coppers on the dancefloor, but you better not steal the moves.
DJ, gonna turn this house around somehow?
Cop Watcher