Showing posts with label sexual-offenses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sexual-offenses. Show all posts

Saturday, October 8, 2005

Australia: Cop Watch - drugs in the force

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.

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 Police Integrity Commission.

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

By Cop Watcher posted 8 October 05

There are coppers on the dance floor

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 prove 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?


“Murder on the Dancefloor” is a song written by Gregg Alexander and Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Alexander and Matt Rowe for Ellis-Bextor’s first album Read My Lips (2001). The music video was directed by Sophie Muller.

Related:

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Australia: Copwatch - pornographic emails
Copwatch -sexually explicit emails in Western Australia - Victoria cops ask for freedom to target Muslims - Former ASIO head says Victorian corruption now worse than ever - Coppers out of control in driving pursuits in NSW - Drink-driving copper 5 times over the limit in Tasmania - Fans of Ned Kelly fire 40 shots into a memorial plaque at Stringybark Creek.

Police drivers sneer at the rules
NSW police involved in high-speed car pursuits have lied, ignored commands to stop and switched radio frequencies to dodge official supervision while taking part in chases, internal service documents reveal.

Australia: 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.

Victorian cops the most corrupt in Australia
A weekly round up of news on the cops. Former Australian Crime Commission Chair says Victorian cops are the most corrupt in Australia -- so they are given extra powers -- and so Melburnians can be patrolled by the army -- and have business deals with McDonalds. Top cops in NSW cleared after investigation -- but another one charged with child slavery. Western Australian police officer leaves the force under secrecy -- and Canberra hospital nurse tells the Federal Police to bugger off.

Cop Watch - The threat of privatised state power
Cop Watch will stay silent on proposed anti-terrorist laws and the arrest of peace activist Scott Parkin as so many others are writing about it, but a moment needs to be spent on private security guards - the private army of the state.

Cop Watch - Tweed Heads Terrorism brings town to standstill
Another terror attack in Australia brings Tweeds Heads (NSW) to a standstill - police brake speed limit to get footy player to footy match - woman ends up dead because of police failure, according to coroner - corrupt corruption commissioner might end up in prison - 14 year old girl gets locked up by police unlawfully - ex-copper gets massive $650,000 pay-out.

A copper's lot may not be happy, but it is certainly well paid
NSW Police to set up full time riot squad following Forbes protests - no one wants to be Commissioner of Police in NSW - no one wants to be a copper in SA - another copper rapes a juvenile - more secrecy bungles in Victoria - more drugs for the cops on duty - Justice Wood (former Commissioner into Police Corruption) says little has changed in 10 years - cops on corruption charges get stressed out and get compo.

Cop Watch: When permanent head injuries ruled to be reasonable force Former copper kidnaps and rapes 10 year old (allegedly) - Commission rules that police violence that leads to serious and permanent head injuries is 'reasonable' - more police lies on the de Menezes killing in London by terrorist police officers - NSW Police Association criticise A30 Opera House cost of policing - Victorian Police stuff up traffic tickets (again).

Cop Watch: No. 4 Terrorism in Ballarat
Terrorism in Ballarat - former Sydney copper sues the police after becoming drug addict - Victorian Police unlawfully releases 'up to 20,000 pages' of confidential files.

Australia: Cop Watch No. 3
This round-up includes: disgraced officers may get reinstated with back pay - more confidential information gets released into the public domain by police - body searching at the Sydney Opera House - and Irish police pissed off over WA police poaching campaign in Ireland.

Australia: Copwatch No.2
A review of what the boys and girls in blue have been up to shows that their respective juices have been stimulated by their ability to demand greater and greater police powers.

Australia: Cop Watch
The roundup this week - dodgy riot gear, shooting French photographers, senior coppers being 4 times over the legal limit, dodgy promotions in NSW, more terrorism powers in WA and drug-dealing coppers in Melbourne (it is alleged).

Assaulted, intimidated or harassed in custody?
"Then make an Apprehended Violence Order application against the police, says assault victim Ms Teresa Kiernan.

NSW Police Force: 2 dead, $1 million dollars to catch a thief?
NSW police have expressed concern about their response to the Macquarie Fields riots in south-western Sydney after a police pursuit that killed two young youths Dylan Rayward 17, and Mathew Robertson, 19 that went horribly wrong.

OUR STORIES MUST BE TOLD. THEY HAVE TO BE
On Sunday 13th February, a Community gathering will be held to enable all people to remember the death of one of our young Community members, 'TJ' Hickey.

Vic police chief moves to sack officers
The Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police, Christine Nixon, has moved to dismiss two police officers as part of a crackdown on corruption and says up to 20 more dismissals could follow.

Vic flop cop warns there's more corruption
Victorian Police Chief Commissioner, Christine Nixon, says Victorians should brace themselves for more evidence of police corruption.

Vic police corruption report tabled in Parliament
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Bent police compromise Bulldogs gang-rape case
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More NSW Police Corruption?
Line of fire? [Bullshit! Line of Lick Arse Noble Cause NSW Corrupt Cops] (clockwise from top left) Deputy Commissioner Dave Madden, Assistant Commissioner Peter Parsons, Superintendent Dave Swilkes, Assistant Commissioner Bob Waites and Superintendent Dave Owens.

NSW Cop suspect in murder?
A sacked Sydney police officer has finished giving testimony at a hearing into his corrupt activities over the past eight years. Christopher John Laycock was yesterday recalled to the witness stand at the Police Integrity Commission (PIC).

Corrupt NSW police officer sacked
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Policeman draws blank on fake raids
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Officer planned to kidnap criminals
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Police offer protection to family following gang rape allegations
The parents of a 14-year-old girl claim their daughter was gang-raped in Sydney earlier this year, and have raised concerns about corrupt policeman Detective Sergeant Christopher Laycock's review of the case.

NSW police prosecutor charged with child porn possession
A New South Wales police prosecutor has been charged with the possession of child pornography.

Police, teachers charged in child porn bust
One-hundred-and-fifty people, including police officers and teachers, have been arrested in what the Federal Police (AFP) describe as Australia's biggest Internet child pornography bust.

A corrupt way to treat the community?
I seen the police bleeding on Nine's Sunday program arguing that promotion should depend on how many crimes police have solved and not how many brains they have and that was coming from police commissioner Ken Moroney and Police Minister John Watkins?

Judges Blood Sample: After the fact of the fact of a hangover?
Lawyers say New South Wales Supreme Court judge Jeff Shaw should not give police his own sample of blood taken after he crashed his car near his Sydney home last month.

NSW police drug amnesty under review
A drug amnesty for the New South Wales police force is under review, Police Commissioner Ken Moroney has said.

Police to uphold law not decide mental health
A diagnosis of mental illness could be made over the phone instead of in person, and involuntary psychiatric patients could lose the right to have their case reviewed by a magistrate, under proposed changes to NSW mental health laws.

Redfern police need education not weapons
According to the description of one senior police officer, the ACLO called out on the afternoon before the Redfern violence escalated was "hopeless, intoxicated and had no driver's licence."

Bulldogs simply not the best!
SIMPLY NOT THE BEST AND DEFINITELY NOT BETTER THAN ANYONE, ANYONE I'VE MET.

Clive Small, NSW Inspector Gadget
NSW Police has revived controversial plans for a specialist discriminative squad to tackle the wave of violent crime that has plagued Sydney's south-west for more than a decade.

Drive-by shootings: test your political IQ?
What if since the Wood Royal Commission into police corruption the drugs moved from Kings Cross to Cabramatta. Then since the the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into Cabramatta the drugs moved to Bankstown/Greenacre. Giving police more power might just be more fuel on the fire.

NSW drug wars: family feud not responsible for shootings
Do New South Wales citizens have to be diverted from the truth about a drug infested gangland killing? Why did the police lie? Why did the Premier lie? What is wrong with our government and police, are they on the take? Are they on drugs? Are these people being drug tested?

Who is bad?
Super Rat? M5? M11? K8? N2? So I trust that some people who, with the photos and guns guessed that a jury would quickly establish a case against a profiled person whom, you just had a picture and a history of. Common knowledge? The government knew their victims would take the blame. Not just chess in court, 'moving around the pieces', but 'putting false evidence, or not enough evidence before the jury."

2,500, crooked detectives? Or a corrupt Government?
The Wood Royal Commission into police corruption. Where did the police learn their trade skills? Led by example perhaps?

How to become corruption resistant in NSW
Don't trust those who cannot prove themselves with the little amounts of trust you give them. Just because they have a letter of perceived trust doesn't mean they can be trusted.

This is not how you eat 'antisocial behaviour'
Process corruption, perjury, planting of evidence, verbals, fabricated confessions, denial of suspects rights, a solicitor to induce confessions, tampering with electronic recording equipment, framing. Generally green lighting crime, and I say Murder, including the kids who overdosed on heroin. No doubt.

Black Knight - Long way to go home
In line with the current climate of police corruption and the demise of the reform unit set up by Wood, these facts ought to have been a good reason to leave Moroney out of the package as Commissioner.

Bob down and sniff my arse
These are serious invasions of privacy and draconian laws? Where are our democratic soldiers, the lawyers and the barristers who need to take on the government in the courts? Are they plastic? Or to busy feathering their nests? Or have they been cleverly purchased by this black government. Drug test police and politicians, and have the tests independently accessed.

Come in spinner? Or Come in sinner?
"You don't have, in my view very vigilant processes. I suppose it's akin to the problem of corruption within the police," he told the ABC radio. " People say there's corruption with the police (but) do you get the police to investigate problems within their own ranks?

Deeds
I am disturbed by Governments 'actions' in relation to shuffling the police service. Clive Small seconded into Parliament like a cocky in a perch. A breach of the fundamental Separation of Powers Doctrine does not in my view allow the thought of intervening, planning, or shuffling to stack the deck of our police service. The one that suppose to be autonomous according to Lord Denning. Where the Parliamentary Secretary can ask the commissioner of police to 'report' then sack him if he is not satisfied with such report.

Prison Mind Games-Do they exist?
Directives are given inside the prison system that are not consistent with the law in NSW. And not in the good interests of the health and well being of the prisoners.

Truth
Who is telling the truth? Well I guess Dr. Ed. Chadbourne or Mr. Peter Ryan may have the answer to that. Dr. Chadbourne sacked by Peter Ryan and more specifically in my view because he elected deputy commissioners Dave Madden and Andrew Scipione as the best men in the service in relation to his qualifications to make a recommendation in his capacity as human resources.That is if you believe that a Dr. can be corrupted.

Honesty
What is happening between the Police Service and politics is quite extraordinary at the moment. If stand over tactics don't work tell half the truth honestly and follow the example of sheep. Another word for it is sleaze, yeah. Another word for it is workplace harassment. Another word for it is bribing a Police Officer. Another word for it is misleading Parliament.

Tele Tales
Most people I know don't buy the Daily Telegraph. Why? Because of the lies and propaganda purported by them.

Lord Denning
Interesting how a member of the Police Board Mr. Tim Priest would hold grave fears for his safety from dangerous senior police but fails to name them or have them sacked. Rather Priest resigns as if he had no powers. Could that mean what he was saying is that the Governments are also corrupt?

Corrosive
Clive Small is Bob Carr's choice for the new Police Commissioner. It could only be the case considering his, Small's special appointment into Parliament House. Small who suffers from the little person syndrome is the ideal bend over boy who gets shuffled through his corrupt actions. Rolling the legal system for him after the fact, just like his predecessor Roger the dodger Rogerson.

Black Nexus
The Separation of Powers Doctrine is nowcontaminated witharangeofcolours, now leaving us with a black shirt on a once blue bridge that crossed that thin blue line. The 'Amery and Woodham show'.

Same boat
The Premier, Bob Carr, relies on a militia. A gang of bikies and our Police Service, to show all of us he is no murderer. He should be taken to the task along with his partners in crime like Clive Small to account for those people who like my self have been maliciously assaulted and who have complained, without any service and those who cannot speak for themselves who were murdered, like Terry Falconer. Terry murdered in custody.

Good Cop
Why have our democratic institutions broken down? It's not just the criminal justice system. The Anti-Corruption Network webmaster@anti-corruption-network.org exposes the same issues. A group of white-collar workers who say they have suffered as follows:

Dangerous
I refer to the Daily Telegraph article 22 March 2002 under the heading Priest quits advisory job.

Partners in crime - history!
Roger Rogerson, the old hero, who never faced a result in the Warren Lanfranchi, or Sally-Anne Huckstepp murders, was let off in my opinion when the New South Wales Government rolled the legal system (deciding what evidence to give the police prosecutor) to have the jury believe the illusion they (the Government wanted to create).

Police Chronology 1994-2001
View events in the NSW Police Force since the Wood Royal Commission began in 1994. 1994 May Justice James Wood is appointed Commissioner of the Royal Commission into the NSW Police Service ('WRC').

Federal Police

AFP: The unlikely CRIMINAL
It was born of a bombing and it made its name after a far more devastating act of terrorism. But for most of the 25 years in between, little was known about the Australian Federal Police force or the work it did.

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Legislation in Victoria on sexual offenders: issues for health professionals

Rather than ever more oppressive laws "false positives" will result in detention on spurious grounds. Preventive detention is odious and affects classes of people rather than individuals.

AUSTRALIA: VICTORIA: Abstract

* New legislation passed in Victoria (the Serious Sex Offenders Monitoring Act 2005) extends the role of doctors in managing and treating sex offenders.

* This legislation is not based on a solid understanding of the research evidence on treatment of sex offenders or on their risk of reoffending.

* The legislation creates ethical and professional dilemmas for health professionals through the conflation of legal control of offenders with the medical management of disorders of sexual preference.

* There is a critical need for research and funding in this area, rather than ever more oppressive laws, if governments are to be serious about treating sex offenders, rather than simply incarcerating them.


The Victorian State Government has introduced legislation to provide for extended supervision of some sexual offenders. The Serious Sex Offenders Monitoring Act 2005, was enacted in June 2005. It permits an order to be made providing for up to 15 years of conditional supervision and "treatment" subsequent to the expiration of a criminal sentence or parole for a range of child sexual offences and bestiality (Box).

In the second reading, the Hon. Tim Holding, MLA, Minister for Police and Emergency Services, noted that:

The deterrent effect of ongoing supervision, reduction of the offenders' exposure to environmental risk factors and ongoing access to treatment and support will deter the commission of further offences.2

Reducing child molestation is an admirable goal, and anything is welcome that might decrease the serious sequelae in its victims.3

However, we hold significant concerns that the legislation can achieve this goal. We are also concerned about its compromise of fundamental legal and ethical principles. The legislation has been adopted with remarkably little debate or comment from interested professional bodies. It is not based on research evidence, relies on faulty appraisals of risk, encroaches significantly on personal autonomy and principles of justice, and potentially places doctors in a compromising, policing role.

The international context

Jurisdictions in a number of developed countries have enacted laws directed against child molesters, which provide for indeterminate sentencing, mandated treatment, community registration and protracted supervision beyond the duration of a sentence. For instance, the Queensland Dangerous Prisoners (Sexual Offenders) Act 2003 was designed to allow continued detention in custody and supervised release of offenders seen at high risk of reoffending. It was upheld as valid on appeal to the High Court of Australia.4

These laws, often described collectively as "sexually violent predator" laws, are a controversial response to the public distress and media attention accorded to reoffending by convicted sex offenders.5 However, despite the popularity of these laws, we are unaware of any research that has yet demonstrated that they actually reduce rates of sexual offending against children.

The Victorian Act

The Victorian Act provides for extended supervision with conditions. Among its mooted requirements are that an "assessment report" be provided by a psychologist, psychiatrist or other prescribed health service provider (a very broad definition not limited to doctors and psychologists) (s.7). Such a report must address "propensity to commit relevant offences in the future", and previous treatment and its effects (s. 8).

The standard of proof required in the Act is "a high degree of probability" (s.11(1)).The Adult Parole Board is empowered to direct that the offender fulfil conditions, including "treatment or rehabilitation programs or activities that the offender must attend and participate in" (s. 16(3)(d)), and courts involved may take into account "whether the offender cooperated .....fully, in the preparation of an assessment report" (s. 34).

These requirements are similar to international sexually violent predator laws, although the Victorian Act does provide for procedural protection, including rights of appeal, and does not go as far as some other laws which, for instance, reverse the burden of proof (ie, require that the offender demonstrate that any risk has abated, rather than the onus remaining on the court to find that the offender continues to pose a high risk).6 The Act is modelled on New Zealand legislation enacted in 2004. The cost of enforcing its conditions on a single offender has been reported as hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.7

As citizens, we welcome any measure which makes our children safer, but we question whether the Victorian Act will achieve this goal. Furthermore, we believe that it flouts fundamental principles of justice, in effect providing for offenders to be sentenced twice for the same crime and making them subject to legislation retrospectively. It also raises important ethical and professional issues for doctors. It conflates the legal control of offenders with the medical management of disorders of sexual preference and, in so doing, attempts to make health professionals the agents of a particularly draconian form of social control. Doctors treating patients subject to the Act may be required to report non-compliance, thus facilitating incarceration.

Will this Act make our children safer?

What is the evidence for treatment effectiveness?

Most convicted child molesters will eventually return to the community. This is why effective management of those who might reoffend is so important. Treatment of sex offenders is usually psychological, using a cognitive behavioural framework. This includes cognitive restructuring, training in victim empathy and social skills, and relapse prevention. Increasingly, treatment is targeted towards specific deficits and is individualised, although it may be delivered in group settings.8 Its effectiveness relies on proper assessment and the use of interventions justified by well constructed research evidence, which is as yet lacking.

A number of biological treatments are also currently used. These include specific serotonin uptake inhibitors, progestagens (eg, medroxyprogesterone), anti-androgens (cyproterone acetate) and gonatodotropin-releasing hormone agonists (eg, leuprorelin).9 These medications seem to have efficacy in reducing sexual drive, deviant sexual arousal and problem sexual behaviours. Because of their side effects, their use tends to be limited to those at higher risk of reoffending.10

However, the evidence base for both types of treatment of sexual offenders is poor. Study populations have been either highly selected(eg, by severity of offence or imprisonment) or heterogeneous (eg, in predilection or offending rates). Psychological treatments are rarely manualised (that is, adherent to a specified methodology) or tested for integrity by blinded external raters. For biological treatments,the evidence generally comprises uncontrolled case series with small numbers and limited follow-up.

Despite the extensive clinical experience with these medications, there is only limited empirical support for their effectiveness. Until more is known of their effects on deviant arousal and sexual recidivism, any legislative mandate for such treatment is both premature and clinically unjustified. There seems little interest at government or industry level in funding studies of interventions to reduce sexual offending. This may well correlate with the ease of introducing legislation to provide correctional solutions.

Who is at risk of reoffending?


Recidivism rates for sexual offenders are far lower than is popularly assumed. A meta-analysis of recidivism studies, acknowledging their generally limited periods of follow-up and reliance on reconviction rates (which underrepresent reoffending), suggests that the overall rate of sexual reoffending is 13.4%, which is much lower than for most other types of offending, such as theft and violent crimes.11 Knowledge is expanding about the clinical indicators of increased risk of offending, which potentially enable targeted intervention for higher risk subgroups. Currently, large amounts of public money are expended on psychological treatments that we believe are of dubious benefit or may even be detrimental, for large numbers of sex offenders who are at very low risk of reoffending. At the same time, high risk offenders often go unrecognised and effectively untreated.

We do not believe that the Victorian Act will improve this situation. The Act requires a prescribed health service provider to assess the risk of reoffending. However, the range of people who might be defined as prescribed" providers is uncomfortably broad and not defined by expertise or skill base. In addition, we believe that the tools currently available for assessment may be inappropriate for Australian use. A range of objective risk assessment scales are used in jurisdictions in North America and the United Kingdom.12-14

However, these scales are based on actuarial data and focus on historical variables, without taking into account significant clinical and current variables (such as motivation or response to treatment), or variables which reduce offending risk (such as the advent of physical illness or frailty).15 The resulting estimates of recidivism risk are subject to significant error.16

Furthermore, these scales have not been normed for Australian use, particularly for subgroups such as Indigenous offenders. Our concerns about these scales are even greater given that they are to be used in legal forums, where they are prone to manipulation and misinterpretation. It must be remembered that "false positives" will result in detention on spurious grounds. Preventive detention is odious and affects classes of people rather than individuals. Some will be detained unnecessarily. Ethical issues and role conflict

The role of clinicians under the Act is ethically contentious. Clinicians assessing risk of reoffending will be required to determine eligibility for continued coercive supervision, rather than being called on to inform treatment. Treating doctors may find treatment is subject to lower standards of informed consent, and the voluntariness of those subject to conditions of treatment is a vexed issue. In the United States, sexually violent predator laws have often legislated for a reduced standard of informed consent -- for instance, not requiring full explanation of side effects equivalent to usual practice -- and have offered indemnity to doctors treating patients under these laws.6 These indemnity clauses reflect the fact that doctors may not necessarily be acting in the best interests of their patients.

Of course, many psychiatric interventions are less than consensual and are provided under involuntary treatment legislation. However, these civil commitment laws do not provide for protracted incarceration in prison for failure to comply with treatment. Similarly, one could argue that doctors involved in assessments under such laws are executing the public health duties of medicine, or that the protection of the community warrants such incursions into individual autonomy. However, in a court such arguments substantially alter the duties of beneficence and non-maleficence which are integral to the practice of medicine. Doctors acting in legal forums should not be so easily seduced by the needs of the legal system.

The dual role of treating doctors under this legislation may also have detrimental effects on the therapeutic relationship. For those in treatment, the threat of being subjected to supervision laws is quite likely to discourage candid disclosure about the magnitude and nature of thoughts, impulses and behaviours, lest these be considered incriminating. These factors reflect that treating doctors may be viewed not as independent clinicians but increasingly as agents of supervision, social control and monitoring.

Although a similar situation may arise under other legislation (eg, legislation on monitoring of infectious diseases and other public health issues), to our knowledge no other legislation has been so closely linked with the goals of justice rather than patient care. This shift in the ethical basis of practice warrants careful consideration and consultation. We are not aware that this has occurred in formulating the Victorian Act. Conclusions

The introduction of legislation in Victoria to provide lengthy post-sentence supervision of some sex offenders is likely to set the tone for similar laws throughout Australia. It reflects an international trend for laws targeted at sex offenders, many of which involve doctors and clinical psychologists in non-therapeutic goals, such as monitoring and risk management.

The roles of health professionals in assessment and treatment under the Victorian Act are contentious and at odds with existing standards of ethical practice. It is preferable for clinical staff to focus on treatment rather than policing, as the latter can be adequately, and ethically, undertaken by correctional staff responsible for ensuring compliance with legal orders.

Most importantly, the possibilities for effective treatment that will reduce sexual offending have once again been neglected. In part, the Victorian Act is a response to previous misdirection of resources. Those responsible for providing programs for sex offenders all too often rely on therapists who are not clinically trained psychologists and who are frequently unsupported by appropriate psychiatric input. Instead of developing, funding and evaluating community - and prison-based assessment and treatment programs, what is offered are claims of effectiveness based on no more than a hope and a prayer. This Act, far from making our children safer, may simply allow an unsatisfactory situation to continue.

There is a critical need for funding, training and research to clarify the effect of psychological and pharmacological interventions and to determine their effectiveness in achieving a popularly desired goal. However, to embed treatment in legislation is currently both controversial and premature. It is time to stop gambling with our children's safety and to develop sound evidence-based assessment and treatment programs for sex offenders, administered by properly trained and registered clinical psychologists and psychiatrists.

The Serious Sex Offenders Monitoring Act 2005 (Vic)1

* Requires some sexual offenders against children to be subject to supervision and treatment after release (an Extended Supervision Order).

* An assessment report by a psychologist, psychiatrist or other health service provider is needed for consideration of an Order.

* This report must address: propensity to commit relevant offences in the future; efforts made by the offender to address the causes of sexual-offending behaviour; factors that might increase or decrease any identified risks; and an assessment of risk that the offender will commit another relevant offence if not subject to an Extended Supervision Order.

* A court may make an Extended Supervision Order only if it is satisfied to a high degree of probability that the offender is likely to commit a relevant offence.

* The prosecution has the burden of proof.

* Conditions of the order may include: attendance, reporting and electronic monitoring; notification of changes of address, name or employment; conditions of residence, curfews, and restrictions on movement, associations and employment; and attendance and participation in treatment and the preparation of reports.

* The Order can be made for up to 15 years and is renewable, but subject to review.

* Breach of an Order may be punished by imprisonment of up to 5 years.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Professor James Ogloff (Monash University, Melbourne, Vic) for his suggestions.

Competing interests

None identified.

References

1. Serious Sex Offenders Monitoring Act 2005 (Vic). Available at: http://www.dms.dpc.vic.gov.au/Domino/Web_Notes/LDMS/PubLawToday.nsf?OpenDatabase (accessed Jun 2005).

2. Victoria, Legislative Assembly, Parliament of Victoria Hansard, 22 February 2005: 10. Available at: http://tex.parliament.vic.gov.au/bin/texhtmlt?form=VicHansard.adv (accessed Aug 2005).

3. Fergusson DM, Mullen PE. Childhood sexual abuse: an evidence based perspective. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage, 1999.

4. Fardon v Attorney-General for the State of Queensland [2004] HCA 46. Available at: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/2004/46.html (accessed Jul 2005).

5. Mercado CC, Elbogen EB, Scalora M, Tomkins A. Judgements of dangerousness: are sex offenders assessed differently than civil psychiatric patients? Psychiatry Psychol Law 2001; 8: 146-153.

6. Stone TH, Winslade WJ, Klugman CM. Sex offenders, sentencing laws and pharmaceutical treatment: a prescription for failure. Behav Sci Law 2000; 18: 83-110.

7. News: paedophile parole still worries some [television broadcast]. New Zealand: TV One, 2005: 18 Mar.

8. Wood RM, Grossman LS, Fichtner CG. Psychological assessment, treatment and outcome with sex offenders. Behav Sci Law 2000; 18: 23-41.

9. Bradford JMW. The neurobiology, neuropharmacology, and pharmacological treatment of the paraphilias and compulsive sexual behaviour. Can J Psychiatry 2001; 46: 26-34.

10. Hill A, Briken P, Kraus C, et al. Differential pharmacological treatment of paraphilias and sex offenders. Int J Offender Ther Comp Criminol 2003; 47: 407-421.

11. Hanson RK, Bussière MT. Predicting relapse: a meta-analysis of sexual offender recidivism studies. J Consult Clin Psychol 1998; 66: 348-362.

12. Hanson RK, Thornton D. Static 99: improving actuarial risk assessments for sex offenders 1999-02. Available at: http://www.psepc-sppcc.gc.ca/publications/corrections/199902_e.pdf (accessed Apr 2005).

13. Firestone P, Bradford JM, Greenberg DM, Serran GA. The relationship of deviant sexual arousal and psychopathy in incest offenders, extrafamilial child molesters and rapists. J Am Acad Psychiatry Law 2000; 28: 303-308.

14. Hanson RK, Harris A. The Sex Offender Need Assessment Rating (SONAR): a method for measuring change in risk levels 2000-1. Available at: http://www.psepcsppcc.gc.ca/publications/corrections/200001b_e.asp (accessed Apr 2005).

15. Heilbrun K, Ogloff JR, Picarello K. Dangerous offender statutes in the United States and Canada. Implications for risk assessment. Int J Law Psychiatry 1999; 22: 393-415.

16. Thomas-Peter B, Jones J. High risk inferences in assessing high risk: some concerns about the clinical use of the PCL-R. Presentation to the 5th Annual Conference of the International Association of Forensic Mental Health Services; Melbourne; April 2005.

(Received 3 May 2005, accepted 28 Jul 2005)

Monash University, Melbourne, VIC. Danny H Sullivan, MHlthMedLaw, FRANZCP, Psychiatrist and Honorary Lecturer; Paul E Mullen, DSc, FRANZCP, Professor of Forensic Psychiatry; Michele T Pathe, MD, FRANZCP, Psychiatrist and Honorary Senior Lecturer.

Correspondence: Dr Danny H Sullivan, Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health, Monash University, Locked Bag 10, Fairfield, VIC 3078. danny.sullivanATforensicare.vic.gov.au

http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/183_06_190905/sul10338_fm.html

By Danny H Sullivan, Paul E Mullen and Michele T Pathe MJA 2005; 183 (6): 318-320 posted 20 September 05

Related:

WA/ Satellite Surveillance
Re : Satellite Tracking of offenders of serious crime released to community supervision.

Custody as the challenge to corrections
Despite their problematic nature, however, recidivism figures do not suggest that the prison component of a sentence improves prospects for deterrence or rehabilitation, by comparison with other sentencing options.

Department of Corrective Services fails to rehabilitate offenders
NSW: Unpopular people will be forced to wear tracking devices at a cost of $5,000 dollars per unit because the NSW Department of Corrective Services failed to rehabilitate those offenders at a cost of $65,000 a year while they were held in custody for many years.

QLD INDEFINITE DETENTION 'IN A NUTSHELL'
The Queensland Attorney-General Rod Welford has taken the unusual steps by taking sex offenders to court right at the time of their release and making sure the keys were thrown away.

Child porn investigation hits school morale
The Primary Principals Association says the ongoing investigation into child pornography in Victoria is having an impact on morale in the state's school system.

Partners of Paedophiles support group in demand
A Partners of Paedophiles support group says it has received an influx of calls after a police operation in which hundreds of Australians have been accused of possessing child pornography.

Dr Louise Porter on protecting children
"When I say that rewards and punishments have limited success what I mean is at the most they can only ever teach children to do as they're told and I think that's a very dangerous thing to do for children.

Expert says child porn investigation tip of iceberg
A leading expert on child abuse says the current New South Wales police investigation into child pornography is just the tip of the iceberg.

Police offer protection to family following gang rape allegations
The parents of a 14-year-old girl claim their daughter was gang-raped in Sydney earlier this year, and have raised concerns about corrupt policeman Detective Sergeant Christopher Laycock's review of the case.

NSW police prosecutor charged with child porn possession
A New South Wales police prosecutor has been charged with the possession of child pornography.

Rockspiders: Police, Teachers, Childcare Owners, and Uncle Pervy!
Police have indicated there will be hundreds more arrests as part of Australia's largest ever crackdown on child pornography even though it is some of the police themselves? Authorities have so far charged more than 190 people with a total of 2000 offences and seized more than two million pornographic images.

Indefinite detention means the government owns its citizens
A convicted rapist detained indefinitely in a north Queensland jail has lost a High Court appeal against his detention. Robert John Fardon was due for release more than a year ago but remains in custody under controversial Queensland legislation.

Police, teachers charged in child porn bust
One-hundred-and-fifty people, including police officers and teachers, have been arrested in what the Federal Police (AFP) describe as Australia's biggest Internet child pornography bust.

Child sex offenders to be monitored in NSW
New South Wales Police Minister John Watkins says convicted child sex offenders in south-western Sydney will be monitored during a six-month trial.

Restorative Justice Conferences
Two Restorative Justice-related conferences will be held days apart in February and March 2005, in Australia.

NSW: Rapists more criminally versatile than Paedophiles
Parents to be given paedophile details? But rapists are more criminally versatile than Paedophiles! So who let the dogs out? Police Minister John Watkins! That's who.

Vic database to track sex offenders' movements
The Sex Offenders Registration Bill is due to be tabled in Parliament later this week. Sex offenders will have to tell police if they change their names, address or work and will not be allowed to work with children.

Govt stands by child sex offender program
The Western Australian Government is standing by a taxpayer-funded agency that offers conditional confidentiality to child sex offenders.

Therapy key for teen sex offenders
US: One girl allegedly was raped in the boys' bathroom at Folsom High School on a warm midday in March. Another told officials the same boy, a freshman at the school, had tried to rape her days earlier in a girls' bathroom. Two other girls told investigators the boy had committed lesser sex crimes against them at school within the previous week. If true, such a pattern of escalation is worrisome, according to experts who study and treat sex offenders.

Gang-rape, police, disparity and the law..
The young woman and her friend have told police they met the players in Coffs Harbour on the evening after the Bulldogs played a trial match there and went back to the team's hotel with them.

Today Sex offenders TOMMORROW YOU!
To suggest there is a need to restrict their movement is rubbish! This is a grab for civil liberties in NSW and it offends everyone else who is free to associate because soon it could be you who is restricted or someone you know.

Tony still seeking release after half a lifetime inside
After serving imprisonment continually since February of 1956, because of his age 74, he suffers from high blood pressure, angina, has survived a mild stroke and two major strokes in the past few years, leading to mobility problems on gradients and he continues to have irregular heart problems.

'Lifers' swap cells for nursing beds
A MURDERER and a child molester each judged too dangerous to ever be free of the prison system have been paroled to ordinary nursing homes where other residents have not been told about their pasts. Child sex offender Phillip Adamson and murderer Percy David Bond, who were both in poor health, were moved in recent weeks. Both have spent more than 30 years in jail and both were sentenced under conditions that mean they will never technically be released.

NSW Prisons Inmate Development Committee speaks out
I am writing on behalf of the IDC Inmate Development Committee in area 3, MSPC at Long Bay. Area 3 is where, the Department is congregating minimum-security offenders within maximum-security walls whilst awaiting mandatory programs at Cubit (Sex Offenders Program).

Thursday, September 8, 2005

A copper's lot may not be happy, but it is certainly well paid

NSW Police to set up full time riot squad following Forbes protests - no one wants to be Commissioner of Police in NSW - no one wants to be a copper in SA - another copper rapes a juvenile - more secrecy bungles in Victoria - more drugs for the cops on duty - Justice Wood (former Commissioner into Police Corruption) says little has changed in 10 years - cops on corruption charges get stressed out and get compo.

NSW Police have announced that a full-time stand by riot squad will be set up. A Sept 1 AAP report says that lessons have been learned 'during the Macquarie Fields riots and Forbes conference protests.'

NSW Police Commissioner, Ken Moroney, announced the squad's formation on Sept. 1, saying its members would be handpicked and specially trained.

The 45-member team would be led by Kings Cross Commander, Superintendent Steve Cullen, who had been directing police security for the Forbes Global CEO conference in Sydney.

'We have drawn on the lessons learned from Macquarie Fields and are mindful of the public order incidents witnessed at the Forbes Global CEO Conference,' Mr Moroney said.

Mr Moroney is facing his own riotous situation as a crisis has hit the senior ranks of NSW Police, with no one wanting to take over the job of Commissioner.

An August 28 report in The Sunday Telegraph spoke of the tension behind whether Ken Moroney would continue as NSW Police Commissioner or retire in favour of, among others, the Victorian police commissioner, Ms Nixon, who is in a spot of trouble herself (see below).

Ken Moroney has been a police officer for 40 years - can you imagine the mindset he must have ?

At least the top 5 in the senior command don't seem to be up to the job.

Candidate 1 (Deputy Commissioner Andrew Scipione) has told colleagues he doesn't want the job.

Candidate 2 (Assistant Commissioner Dave Madden) is still on sick leave, and awaiting the possibility that he will be criminally charged for allegedly leaking information obtained on a telephone intercept.

Candidate 3 (Assistant Commissioner Peter Parsons) is also waiting to see whether he will face charges over the telephone intercept matter.

Candidate 4 (Assistant Commissioner, Dick Adams) has recently retired for 'health reasons.'

Candidate 5 (Assistant Commissioner, Bob Waites) has been widely criticised for saying that the combined forces of NSW Police could not protect Health Minister Tony Abbott from students at a proposed talk.

The Victorian Police Commissioner, Christine Nixon, could then be a realistic candidate to come up to NSW. How unfortunate, then, that she has done a shit in her own garden by violating rules designed to prevent corruption.

The Australian of August 29 reported that the Victorian Police Commissioner appears to have broken department rules about registering an underworld 'consultant' at the centre of a corruption scandal.

As Victorian Police Commissioner, you would have thought that Ms Nixon would be aware of the requirement to register police informants, if only to 'cover her arse,' as one senior officer was quoted. But that was not the case.

Note: since this article has been written, Ken Moroney has announced he will stay on, thus avoiding the need to choose anyone as a successor.

Following the people in Western Australia who don't want to join the police (see previous issues of Cop Watch) the recruitment problem has now shifted to South Australia. The Adelaide Advertiser of August 31 reports that local people don't want to join 'the filth' either, leaving a shortfall in recruiting targets.

Those who do become police officers are spending more and more of their time sexually abusing the vulnerable. If not 10 year old girls in Thailand (allegedly) as reported in a previous issue of Cop Watch, then teenage boys in Australia.

An August 20 AAP report says that former police inspector Bruce McLennan sexually abused two brothers, aged between 12 and 14, which included indecent assault and penetration.

Presumably because the former copper was 77 (sic), the abusive old bastard got a whopping 3 years 8 months in prison, but he will get out in only 12 months if he keeps his dick to himself while inside. He had been a copper for 38 years.

Whether genitals or confidential information, they just can't keep it to themselves. First, the Victorian Police Integrity Commission throws confidential files to the wind, then the Victorian Police, and now the Victorian Police has outdone itself.

An August 30 AAP report says that Victorian Police are 'disappointed' that secret police surveillance tapes that were meant to be destroyed by contractors were found in a warehouse by a rubbish collector.

The tapes, including one of murdered underworld figure Lewis Moran recorded in July 2001, were found by the rubbish collector in an unsecured warehouse. They have since been broadcast on the Nine Network (a commercial tv station).

The rubbish collector said the tapes were dumped at the warehouse and left for three months before he took them home to record on.

'There was no security at all,' he said.

When incompetent coppers are not abusing the sexually vulnerable, there's always the enormous amount of drugs at their disposal to keep their minds off things.

The August 26 Australian reports that a senior officer who led a raid in which the drugs seized were later linked to the overdose death of another policeman has been suspended.

The clear inference is that some of the drugs ended up from the evidence bag into the private possession of the police who were doing the raids.

After the former copper died through 'amphetamine and narcotic toxity' an investigation was set up.

Other officers who took part in the raid which obtained the drugs included former copper 1 (suspended from the police 6 months ago); former copper 2 (resigned from the police and faces drug charges); former copper 3 (under investigation) and former copper 4 (under investigation)

A Victoria Police spokesman declined to comment, saying the matters were still under investigation.

But does anything change ?

August 27 newspapers reported on the appointment of Justice Wood as the new NSW police watchdog 10 years after the landmark royal commission into NSW police found systematic corruption.

Has anything changed since he exposed corruption into the NSW police force ? No, says the former Judge. The police have failed to establish systems that 'control the emergence of misconduct or corruption'.

Justice Wood said that the NSW Police Association [the copper's 'union'] had an 'intuitive reaction of denial and defence' and that an independent legal office should be established.

All of this corruption investigation must get stressful for the police officers involved. So why not give them stress compo handouts ? A September 2, APP report says that Victorian police suspended while facing corruption charges receive payouts under the state's workers' compensation scheme for stress related to the investigation.

This seems to second-guess the outcome of the investigation. Suspected corrupt coppers can be suspended with pay (where the evidence is flimsy) or without pay (if the evidence is overwhelming). When suspended without pay, they simply apply for compo.

A copper's lot may not be happy, but it is certainly well paid...

By Cop Watcher 8 September 05

Community to keep an eye on police violence

The Community will keep an eye out for police violence while they are having fun demonstrating and protesting the Global Forbes conference today.

30A.org AT THE OPERA: An eyewitness account

Well I rode into town on my pushbike and went straight down to the Quay to the protest location, got to about Surry Hills and could smell horse shit thinking the cops aren't far off. Sure enough I went around the corner and there were four cops on horseback and they were in riot gear so I avoided them.

Forbes, Day Two: A Moving Feast in Downtown Sydney

Forbes, Day Two: A Moving Feast in Downtown Sydney. Activists successfully shut down ANZ, corporate climate criminals and the Australian Stock Exchange.

THOUSANDS of protesters to take over Circular Quay


In an attempt to disrupt a conference involving some of the world's top business executives THOUSANDS of protesters are to take over Circular Quay.

Related Links:

Cop Watch: When permanent head injuries ruled to be reasonable force Former copper kidnaps and rapes 10 year old (allegedly) - Commission rules that police violence that leads to serious and permanent head injuries is 'reasonable' - more police lies on the de Menezes killing in London by terrorist police officers - NSW Police Association criticise A30 Opera House cost of policing - Victorian Police stuff up traffic tickets (again).

Cop Watch: No. 4 Terrorism in Ballarat
Terrorism in Ballarat - former Sydney copper sues the police after becoming drug addict - Victorian Police unlawfully releases 'up to 20,000 pages' of confidential files.

Australia: Cop Watch No. 3
This round-up includes: disgraced officers may get reinstated with back pay - more confidential information gets released into the public domain by police - body searching at the Sydney Opera House - and Irish police pissed off over WA police poaching campaign in Ireland.

Australia: Copwatch No.2
A review of what the boys and girls in blue have been up to shows that their respective juices have been stimulated by their ability to demand greater and greater police powers.

Australia: Cop Watch
The roundup this week - dodgy riot gear, shooting French photographers, senior coppers being 4 times over the legal limit, dodgy promotions in NSW, more terrorism powers in WA and drug-dealing coppers in Melbourne (it is alleged).

Assaulted, intimidated or harassed in custody?
"Then make an Apprehended Violence Order application against the police, says assault victim Ms Teresa Kiernan.

NSW Police Force: 2 dead, $1 million dollars to catch a thief?
NSW police have expressed concern about their response to the Macquarie Fields riots in south-western Sydney after a police pursuit that killed two young youths Dylan Rayward 17, and Mathew Robertson, 19 that went horribly wrong.

OUR STORIES MUST BE TOLD. THEY HAVE TO BE
On Sunday 13th February, a Community gathering will be held to enable all people to remember the death of one of our young Community members, 'TJ' Hickey.

Vic police chief moves to sack officers
The Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police, Christine Nixon, has moved to dismiss two police officers as part of a crackdown on corruption and says up to 20 more dismissals could follow.

Vic flop cop warns there's more corruption
Victorian Police Chief Commissioner, Christine Nixon, says Victorians should brace themselves for more evidence of police corruption.

Vic police corruption report tabled in Parliament
The Victorian Ombudsman's report on the Ceja Taskforce and drug related corruption in Victoria police has been tabled in State Parliament.

Bent police compromise Bulldogs gang-rape case
Deputy Commissioner Dave Madden could have compromised gang-rape investigation? Steve Mortimer resigned!

More NSW Police Corruption?
Line of fire? [Bullshit! Line of Lick Arse Noble Cause NSW Corrupt Cops] (clockwise from top left) Deputy Commissioner Dave Madden, Assistant Commissioner Peter Parsons, Superintendent Dave Swilkes, Assistant Commissioner Bob Waites and Superintendent Dave Owens.

NSW Cop suspect in murder?
A sacked Sydney police officer has finished giving testimony at a hearing into his corrupt activities over the past eight years. Christopher John Laycock was yesterday recalled to the witness stand at the Police Integrity Commission (PIC).

Corrupt NSW police officer sacked
New South Wales Police Commissioner Ken Moroney has sacked an officer who confessed to being involved in corrupt activities over the past eight years.

Policeman draws blank on fake raids
A suspended Sydney policeman has told an inquiry that he has "little recollection" of the details of fake police raids he set up.

Officer planned to kidnap criminals
A senior Sydney police officer who has admitted taking money for tipping off a child porn suspect had also been planning to kidnap criminals and extort money from them, the Police Integrity Commission heard yesterday.

Police offer protection to family following gang rape allegations
The parents of a 14-year-old girl claim their daughter was gang-raped in Sydney earlier this year, and have raised concerns about corrupt policeman Detective Sergeant Christopher Laycock's review of the case.

NSW police prosecutor charged with child porn possession
A New South Wales police prosecutor has been charged with the possession of child pornography.

Police, teachers charged in child porn bust
One-hundred-and-fifty people, including police officers and teachers, have been arrested in what the Federal Police (AFP) describe as Australia's biggest Internet child pornography bust.

A corrupt way to treat the community?
I seen the police bleeding on Nine's Sunday program arguing that promotion should depend on how many crimes police have solved and not how many brains they have and that was coming from police commissioner Ken Moroney and Police Minister John Watkins?

Judges Blood Sample: After the fact of the fact of a hangover?
Lawyers say New South Wales Supreme Court judge Jeff Shaw should not give police his own sample of blood taken after he crashed his car near his Sydney home last month.

NSW police drug amnesty under review
A drug amnesty for the New South Wales police force is under review, Police Commissioner Ken Moroney has said.

Police to uphold law not decide mental health
A diagnosis of mental illness could be made over the phone instead of in person, and involuntary psychiatric patients could lose the right to have their case reviewed by a magistrate, under proposed changes to NSW mental health laws.

Redfern police need education not weapons
According to the description of one senior police officer, the ACLO called out on the afternoon before the Redfern violence escalated was "hopeless, intoxicated and had no driver's licence."

Bulldogs simply not the best!
SIMPLY NOT THE BEST AND DEFINITELY NOT BETTER THAN ANYONE, ANYONE I'VE MET.

Clive Small, NSW Inspector Gadget
NSW Police has revived controversial plans for a specialist discriminative squad to tackle the wave of violent crime that has plagued Sydney's south-west for more than a decade.

2,500, crooked detectives? Or a corrupt Government?
The Wood Royal Commission into police corruption. Where did the police learn their trade skills? Led by example perhaps?

Come in spinner? Or Come in sinner?
"You don't have, in my view very vigilant processes. I suppose it's akin to the problem of corruption within the police," he told the ABC radio. " People say there's corruption with the police (but) do you get the police to investigate problems within their own ranks?

Deeds
I am disturbed by Governments 'actions' in relation to shuffling the police service. Clive Small seconded into Parliament like a cocky in a perch. A breach of the fundamental Separation of Powers Doctrine does not in my view allow the thought of intervening, planning, or shuffling to stack the deck of our police service. The one that suppose to be autonomous according to Lord Denning. Where the Parliamentary Secretary can ask the commissioner of police to 'report' then sack him if he is not satisfied with such report.

Truth
Who is telling the truth? Well I guess Dr. Ed. Chadbourne or Mr. Peter Ryan may have the answer to that. Dr. Chadbourne sacked by Peter Ryan and more specifically in my view because he elected deputy commissioners Dave Madden and Andrew Scipione as the best men in the service in relation to his qualifications to make a recommendation in his capacity as human resources.That is if you believe that a Dr. can be corrupted.

Honesty
What is happening between the Police Service and politics is quite extraordinary at the moment. If stand over tactics don't work tell half the truth honestly and follow the example of sheep. Another word for it is sleaze, yeah. Another word for it is workplace harassment. Another word for it is bribing a Police Officer. Another word for it is misleading Parliament.

Tele Tales
Most people I know don't buy the Daily Telegraph. Why? Because of the lies and propaganda purported by them.

Lord Denning
Interesting how a member of the Police Board Mr. Tim Priest would hold grave fears for his safety from dangerous senior police but fails to name them or have them sacked. Rather Priest resigns as if he had no powers. Could that mean what he was saying is that the Governments are also corrupt?

Corrosive
Clive Small is Bob Carr's choice for the new Police Commissioner. It could only be the case considering his, Small's special appointment into Parliament House. Small who suffers from the little person syndrome is the ideal bend over boy who gets shuffled through his corrupt actions. Rolling the legal system for him after the fact, just like his predecessor Roger the dodger Rogerson.

Black Nexus
The Separation of Powers Doctrine is nowcontaminated witharangeofcolours, now leaving us with a black shirt on a once blue bridge that crossed that thin blue line. The 'Amery and Woodham show'.

Same boat
The Premier, Bob Carr, relies on a militia. A gang of bikies and our Police Service, to show all of us he is no murderer. He should be taken to the task along with his partners in crime like Clive Small to account for those people who like my self have been maliciously assaulted and who have complained, without any service and those who cannot speak for themselves who were murdered, like Terry Falconer. Terry murdered in custody.

Good Cop
Why have our democratic institutions broken down? It's not just the criminal justice system. The Anti-Corruption Network webmaster@anti-corruption-network.org exposes the same issues. A group of white-collar workers who say they have suffered as follows:

Dangerous
I refer to the Daily Telegraph article 22 March 2002 under the heading Priest quits advisory job.

Partners in crime - history!
Roger Rogerson, the old hero, who never faced a result in the Warren Lanfranchi, or Sally-Anne Huckstepp murders, was let off in my opinion when the New South Wales Government rolled the legal system (deciding what evidence to give the police prosecutor) to have the jury believe the illusion they (the Government wanted to create).

Police Chronology 1994-2001
View events in the NSW Police Force since the Wood Royal Commission began in 1994. 1994 May Justice James Wood is appointed Commissioner of the Royal Commission into the NSW Police Service ('WRC').

Federal Police

AFP: The unlikely CRIMINAL
It was born of a bombing and it made its name after a far more devastating act of terrorism. But for most of the 25 years in between, little was known about the Australian Federal Police force or the work it did.

Friday, August 26, 2005

Cop Watch: When permanent head injuries ruled to be reasonable force

Former copper kidnaps and rapes 10 year old (allegedly) - Commission rules that police violence that leads to serious and permanent head injuries is 'reasonable' - more police lies on the de Menezes killing in London by terrorist police officers - NSW Police Association criticise A30 Opera House cost of policing - Victorian Police stuff up traffic tickets (again).

As teams of thugs with guns on their hips gear up for their protest against democratic dissent at Circular Quay, Sydney, on Tuesday, the thugs have been showing their true character nationally and overseas.

Former copper Christopher Ronald White has been arrested for sexually abusing a 13 year old girl in Thailand, according to the August 25 Bangkok Post.

The former senior constable kept the girl as a sex slave for 3 years, beginning her abuse at the age of 10.

His trial is expected soon.

Elsewhere, the ABC's 7.30 Report paid a visit to an old story which was broadcast in April, about a young Queenslander named Sam Hogan.

Sam was taken into police custody and mysteriously ended up with massive and permanent brain injuries.

He had been earlier been sprayed with capsicum spray and placed in a 'neck restraint.'

The ever-vigilant Queensland Crime and Misconduct Commission has found that the massive and permanent brain injuries were not the result of unreasonable force.

In the words of the Commission, 'The arrest of Samuel Hogan was lawful and the force used was not excessive.'

In the word's of Sam's mother, Leslee Hogan, 'I think the report represents a gross miscarriage of justice and I just wonder how many people have to die or be grievously harmed before police get more than a rap over the knuckles.'

So, lets give the thugs more powers. ABC News Online on August 25 reports that the Tasmanian Opposition has called for new laws allowing random (ie, blanket) searching on TT-Line passengers. Heaven help us.

In other news, even more lies have been discovered about the killing of de Menezes in London by terrorist police, go to More lies from the British police on the de Menezes murder

The NSW Police Association has questioned why the so-called user-pays system, whereby organisers foot the bill for a police presence, was not being used for the Forbes conference, according to a Police Association spokesperson who was critical of the funding arrangements, on Thursday August 25,

AND, the poor bloody stupid and corrupt police in Victoria have received another ticking off, with the Victorian opposition calling for a review of the speed camera network following 119 infringements being sent out incorrectly, according to an August 25 AAP story.

By Cop Watcher 26 August 05

Related:

Cop Watch: No. 4 Terrorism in Ballarat
Terrorism in Ballarat - former Sydney copper sues the police after becoming drug addict - Victorian Police unlawfully releases 'up to 20,000 pages' of confidential files.

Australia: Cop Watch No. 3
This round-up includes: disgraced officers may get reinstated with back pay - more confidential information gets released into the public domain by police - body searching at the Sydney Opera House - and Irish police pissed off over WA police poaching campaign in Ireland.

Australia: Copwatch No.2
A review of what the boys and girls in blue have been up to shows that their respective juices have been stimulated by their ability to demand greater and greater police powers.

Australia: Cop Watch
The roundup this week - dodgy riot gear, shooting French photographers, senior coppers being 4 times over the legal limit, dodgy promotions in NSW, more terrorism powers in WA and drug-dealing coppers in Melbourne (it is alleged).

Assaulted, intimidated or harassed in custody?
"Then make an Apprehended Violence Order application against the police, says assault victim Ms Teresa Kiernan.

NSW Police Force: 2 dead, $1 million dollars to catch a thief?
NSW police have expressed concern about their response to the Macquarie Fields riots in south-western Sydney after a police pursuit that killed two young youths Dylan Rayward 17, and Mathew Robertson, 19 that went horribly wrong.

OUR STORIES MUST BE TOLD. THEY HAVE TO BE
On Sunday 13th February, a Community gathering will be held to enable all people to remember the death of one of our young Community members, 'TJ' Hickey.

Vic police chief moves to sack officers
The Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police, Christine Nixon, has moved to dismiss two police officers as part of a crackdown on corruption and says up to 20 more dismissals could follow.

Vic flop cop warns there's more corruption
Victorian Police Chief Commissioner, Christine Nixon, says Victorians should brace themselves for more evidence of police corruption.

Vic police corruption report tabled in Parliament
The Victorian Ombudsman's report on the Ceja Taskforce and drug related corruption in Victoria police has been tabled in State Parliament.

Bent police compromise Bulldogs gang-rape case
Deputy Commissioner Dave Madden could have compromised gang-rape investigation? Steve Mortimer resigned!

More NSW Police Corruption?
Line of fire? [Bullshit! Line of Lick Arse Noble Cause NSW Corrupt Cops] (clockwise from top left) Deputy Commissioner Dave Madden, Assistant Commissioner Peter Parsons, Superintendent Dave Swilkes, Assistant Commissioner Bob Waites and Superintendent Dave Owens.

NSW Cop suspect in murder?
A sacked Sydney police officer has finished giving testimony at a hearing into his corrupt activities over the past eight years. Christopher John Laycock was yesterday recalled to the witness stand at the Police Integrity Commission (PIC).

Corrupt NSW police officer sacked
New South Wales Police Commissioner Ken Moroney has sacked an officer who confessed to being involved in corrupt activities over the past eight years.

Policeman draws blank on fake raids
A suspended Sydney policeman has told an inquiry that he has "little recollection" of the details of fake police raids he set up.

Officer planned to kidnap criminals
A senior Sydney police officer who has admitted taking money for tipping off a child porn suspect had also been planning to kidnap criminals and extort money from them, the Police Integrity Commission heard yesterday.

Police offer protection to family following gang rape allegations
The parents of a 14-year-old girl claim their daughter was gang-raped in Sydney earlier this year, and have raised concerns about corrupt policeman Detective Sergeant Christopher Laycock's review of the case.

NSW police prosecutor charged with child porn possession
A New South Wales police prosecutor has been charged with the possession of child pornography.

Police, teachers charged in child porn bust
One-hundred-and-fifty people, including police officers and teachers, have been arrested in what the Federal Police (AFP) describe as Australia's biggest Internet child pornography bust.

A corrupt way to treat the community?
I seen the police bleeding on Nine's Sunday program arguing that promotion should depend on how many crimes police have solved and not how many brains they have and that was coming from police commissioner Ken Moroney and Police Minister John Watkins?

Judges Blood Sample: After the fact of the fact of a hangover?
Lawyers say New South Wales Supreme Court judge Jeff Shaw should not give police his own sample of blood taken after he crashed his car near his Sydney home last month.

NSW police drug amnesty under review
A drug amnesty for the New South Wales police force is under review, Police Commissioner Ken Moroney has said.

Police to uphold law not decide mental health
A diagnosis of mental illness could be made over the phone instead of in person, and involuntary psychiatric patients could lose the right to have their case reviewed by a magistrate, under proposed changes to NSW mental health laws.

Redfern police need education not weapons
According to the description of one senior police officer, the ACLO called out on the afternoon before the Redfern violence escalated was "hopeless, intoxicated and had no driver's licence."

Bulldogs simply not the best!
SIMPLY NOT THE BEST AND DEFINITELY NOT BETTER THAN ANYONE, ANYONE I'VE MET.

Capsicum spray killed Brisbane man
Remember one "Flick" and they're gone. A 26-year-old man has died in Brisbane after a scuffle with police in the inner-city suburb of Highgate Hill. Police say they went to a unit complex just after midnight to speak to the man. Inspector Ian Robinson says police used capsicum spray and the man collapsed and died.

Clive Small, NSW Inspector Gadget
NSW Police has revived controversial plans for a specialist discriminative squad to tackle the wave of violent crime that has plagued Sydney's south-west for more than a decade.

2,500, crooked detectives? Or a corrupt Government?
The Wood Royal Commission into police corruption. Where did the police learn their trade skills? Led by example perhaps?

Australia's Political Underworld...And their enforcers
The promotion of law and order means money to big business. Profits from insurance, security fixtures, patrol services and the like can only continue to grow if the perceived threat of uncontrollable crime wave escalates. In the past few months there have been many examples of the true nature of our blood thirsty politicians and their sinister attempts to spoon-feed a not so gullible public with their repetitious rhetoric.

Lord Denning
Interesting how a member of the Police Board Mr. Tim Priest would hold grave fears for his safety from dangerouse senior police but fails to name them or have them sacked. Rather Priest resigns as if he had no powers. Could that mean what he was saying is that the Governments are also corrupt?

Black Nexus
The Separation of Powers Doctrine is nowcontaminated witharangeofcolours, now leaving us with a black shirt on a once blue bridge that crossed that thin blue line. The 'Amery and Woodham show'.

Partners in crime - history!
Roger Rogerson, the old hero, who never faced a result in the Lanfranchy, or Huckstepp murders, was let off in my opinion when the New South Wales Government rolled the legal system (deciding what evidence to give the police prosecutor) to have the jury believe the illusion they (the Government wanted to create).Similarly, Peter Ryan facing the Police Integrity Commission for questions about his involvement in the demise of the dysfunctional reform unit. Chess in the court (rolling the legal system).

Police Chronology 1994-2001
View events in the NSW Police Force since the Wood Royal Commission began in 1994. 1994 May Justice James Wood is appointed Commissioner of the Royal Commission into the NSW Police Service ('WRC').

Federal Police

AFP: The unlikely CRIMINAL
It was born of a bombing and it made its name after a far more devastating act of terrorism. But for most of the 25 years in between, little was known about the Australian Federal Police force or the work it did.