The NSW police commissioner says she'll give serious consideration to terminating the employment of a senior officer who's been found to have engaged in misconduct over a crash in Sydney last year. The officer has pleaded not guilty to two drink-driving charges and the law enforcement watchdog has released a report following claims there was interference in the investigation into that crash.
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TVTranscript
00:00Well, the report contains two findings of serious misconduct against this senior officer.
00:06We know that he's a 46-year-old inspector but we're not allowed to identify him due
00:10to a court suppression order.
00:12Now this all goes back to May last year when he was at a function and the allegation is
00:16that he drove from that function while he was intoxicated into Sydney's NorthConnex
00:21tunnel where he hit a safety barrier and then left the car in a side street.
00:27So the two findings of misconduct are firstly in relation to leaving the scene of that
00:31crash and then secondly in relation to his alleged dishonesty on an internal insurance
00:37form where he made no declaration of alcohol consumption and said that he fell asleep while
00:42he was driving.
00:43Now the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission said that it's found no evidence that there
00:47was interference in the investigation into the crash which led to these charges against
00:52the officer.
00:54But it has found that he received more lenient treatment from superiors.
00:59Firstly in that a media release wasn't issued when his charges were laid.
01:03That's the normal practice that whenever an officer is charged that's a level of transparency
01:07that the police force offers.
01:09And secondly in relation to things that might have happened in terms of risk management
01:14like should he have been able to keep driving police cars.
01:18Now the LACC report has stopped short of referring the case to the DPP for consideration
01:25of a possible charge of perverting the course of justice.
01:28But it has suggested that Karen Webb, the police commissioner in New South Wales, should
01:33consider terminating his employment.
01:36We heard from Karen Webb earlier this afternoon and she says she's referred the report to
01:40the Professional Standards Command to look at and she says there is a process to be followed
01:45here.
01:46So let's have a listen to what she said.
01:48He's currently not in the workplace.
01:51So I haven't yet considered the employment.
01:54There is a process to follow and I think one of the key things that needs to be understood
01:58here and I think LACC made this point is that we need to follow a process.
02:03And when it comes to employment I have to follow a process.
02:06The New South Wales Police Commissioner speaking there today.
02:09So Jamie if there's already been one investigation why is another needed?
02:13Well there's two parallel things happening here.
02:14The first one is the criminal case which is still making its way through the court.
02:19And the second one is the process that Karen Webb is referring to there in terms of employment.
02:23And that falls under the Police Act which is separate legislation which contains provisions
02:27for the removal of serving officers.
02:30Now Karen Webb there was emphasising the need for following this process and that's why
02:34she's referring to, you know, at the appropriate time I have no doubt that I will be asked
02:39to consider the termination and she'll give serious consideration, she says, to that move
02:44when it does happen.
02:46She did acknowledge though that this is a pretty serious report.
02:49She said this is a dark day for the state's police force.
02:52She said that we'll learn from it and improve and that other officers in the police force
02:56should have confidence that the LACC report is being taken seriously.
03:01In the meantime though this officer remains on inspector pay and as we heard from Karen
03:06Webb he is being paid although he's not in the workforce.
03:10And where's the court case up to?
03:12Well he's pleaded not guilty to two drink driving charges, firstly driving under the
03:16influence of alcohol and high range drink driving.
03:20That case will return to court in late September.
03:23But as I said before we can't report this man's identity because of that suppression
03:27order which is quite extraordinary, it's going to last for 40 years.
03:30And interestingly in this LACC report it said the commission has received confidential material
03:35provided to the court and it's considered that the court's suppression order is understandable
03:41and it said the foundation for that suppression order is unrelated to the circumstances of
03:45the crash back in May 2023.
03:48So there's still an interesting element of mystery perhaps around this and why it's been
03:52suppressed in the first place.