nimby policing

A contact has kindly pointed to official explanations that a NSW Police employee's alleged leaking of files to associates of the Comanchero 'bikie gang' (ie an entity potentially proscribed under the state's controversial outline motorycle legislation) was a "very rare" case and did not jeopardise crucial police work. The Comancheros have allegedly obtained the contents of more than a dozen NSW Police files affecting up to eight investigations and - in the finest tradition of Casablanca's Captain Renault - the police force is exclaiming that it is shocked and staggered by that exceptional incident.

NSW Police deputy commissioner of specialist operations Nick Kaldas thus reportedly commented that it is rare to have an informant among police ranks -

"We need to keep this in context. There are 20,000-plus employees in NSW Police. This a very rare occurrence and the vast majority of police in NSW are ethical."

"[The leaks weren't] crucial to a particular operation or any individuals.

A history of unauthorised - or quasi-authorised - disclosure of information to criminals, journalists and politicians by police in NSW, Victoria and Queensland suggests that misbehaviour is somewhat more common than substantiated incidents of reincarnation or messages from the dead. The Victorian government has for example expressed concern about inappropriate access to sensitive police files in that state.

In 2008 for example the ABC reported that -

the Victorian police force is again rejecting calls for a Royal Commission into corruption, despite a leak of confidential information which now threatens investigations into drug trafficking around the country.

The information was allegedly leaked from the State Surveillance Unit which is involved in investigating organised crime and terrorism threats.

Victoria Police has confirmed that the information did reach crime bosses and included data from national bodies like the Federal Police.

In Melbourne, Samantha Donovan reports.

SAMANTHA DONOVAN: When Victoria Police arrested a suspect in the murder of a police informant last year, they were shocked to discover in he had top secret surveillance information in his possession.

It had apparently been produced by the force's State Surveillance Unit, a covert group that's instrumental in investigating top-level crime threats. Soon after, the force discovered several copies of the profile circulating in the criminal underworld.

A second leaked profile was then located in the hands of a suspect in the Solomon Islands.

Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Simon Overland has confirmed that lives could have been put at risk by the leaking of the documents.

And there were two other significant risks.

SIMON OVERLAND: One is that they're aware that they're being surveilled, and as I said, in this case there's also inappropriate material that's found its way into those documents, and so there has been some further release of information that ought not to be contained in the document.

SAMANTHA DONOVAN: Deputy Commissioner Overland confirmed that the leaked documents contained information not only about suspects, but also about the way the police work and information about other law enforcement agencies.

Simon Overland says he can't say for sure that investigations haven't been compromised.*

One response to comments by NSW Police spokespersons might thus be that the vast majority of police in NSW are indeed - or are presumed to be - ethical but that their virtue does not eliminate concerns regarding misbehaviour. A more cynical response might be along the lines of how do we know? Policing necesserily involves some respect for a 'black box' approach but that respect should not be abused.

Deputy Commissioner Kaldas reportedly indicated that the NSW Police are not going to revamp their systems.

"I can't accept that it was handled badly, or that the systems are flawed in any way," he said.

"In fact, out of this case I don't see any need to revamp our systems."

To adopt a phrase from Mandy Rice-Davies, "he would say that, wouldn't he".

* One upshot of problems in 2005 and 2008 is the 56 page Information security and the Victoria Police State Surveillance Unit report [PDF] by the Victorian Office of Police Integrity earlier this year.