Overland keen to sack rogue cops quickly

Victoria's new police chief wants greater powers to sack rogue officers.

Chief Commissioner Simon Overland will urge parliament to amend regulations to give him the right to sack on the spot any officer caught doing the wrong thing.

Dozens of police are currently on suspension, many facing misconduct or criminal charges.

"We currently have, or normally have, between 50 and 60 police suspended at any one time, for a range of reasons," Mr Overland told journalists on Wednesday.

"With 50 or 60 people out of the workforce that is a 24-hour police station that in effect we are not able to operate because those people are suspended."

Mr Overland said he wanted the same powers other employers had to dismiss workers whose misconduct was beyond question.

"If we have caught someone with literally their hand in the till - as for any other employer, they can pretty much then and there dismiss - and I just want to be in the same position," Mr Overland said.

He made the call as the Victorian Parliament prepares to consider next week amendments to the Police Regulation Act.

Under current laws, the chief commissioner can sack police he has lost confidence in but the process can take years (why ??? - because the laws are made for CRIMINALS) and has been the subject of a successful court challenge.

Mr Overland said the current system was costly, time consuming and contentious and he would give up his "loss of confidence" powers if the new proposals were accepted.

Michael Strong, the director of the police watchdog the Office of Police Integrity (OPI), supported Mr Overland's call.

"As OPI has consistently reported, the police discipline system is antiquated, barely functional and in dire need of reform and I support any changes in that direction," he said.

But Victorian Police Association secretary Greg Davies said the odds were already stacked against police accused of doing the wrong thing and the proposed changes would make it worse.

"It is a reverse of the onus to prove guilt. An accused copper has to prove they are innocent," he said.

"You have to declare associations, coppers are not allowed to have contact with persons that are suspended who might assist you in formalising a defence.

"You are against the best prepared legal team so how do you prove your innocence?"

25 Mar 2009

And they are only the ones that have been 'caught'....

Corrupt Police are known to work with criminals within the manufacture and supply of drugs and illegal prostitution.

The REAL figures are hidden from journalists.