Queensland police 'soliciting' victims to withdraw complaints in bid to cut crime rate, report finds

Police are "soliciting" victims to withdraw complaints in an effort to keep a lid on rising crime rates, Queensland's auditor-general has found.

The auditor's report says pressure from the police hierarchy to cut crime rates has left the Queensland Police Service (QPS) "open to claims of manipulation".

The ABC revealed in January that two police crime managers on the Gold Coast had raised concerns legitimate crime reports were being labelled "unfounded" to keep offences off the books.

Their allegations were passed onto the Queensland auditor-general after their superiors failed to act on their complaints.

In a report about criminal justice data tabled in Parliament, the Audit Office said police crime statistics were "questionable at best and unreliable at worst, and should be treated with caution".

The report focused on the Gold Coast police district, finding officers there used various methods to try to get victims to withdraw their complaints.

The methods included "soliciting victims to withdraw complaints" and sending victims letters requiring them to respond within seven days.

If they failed to respond, police would "presume" they wanted the complaint withdrawn.

The complaints related to offences including assault, burglary, stealing and wilful damage.

"Our analysis of statewide crime statistics indicates that the inappropriate practices and attitudes identified on the Gold Coast regarding changes to crime data are unlikely to be isolated to that district," the report stated.

Queensland Police Minister Mark Ryan told the ABC inappropriate police conduct would be investigated. "I would say to anyone who feels like they've been inappropriately contacted by police to let us know. There is a complaints process," he said. "We expect the highest standards, the very highest standards from our Queensland police.

"If there are shortcomings in those behaviours in respect of any aspect of their role, then those shortcomings will be investigated and we will hold those officers to the highest standards."

The latest QPS crime figures reveal the rates of assault, fraud, robbery and unlawful entry on the Gold Coast in 2016 rose from the year before.

Police detective turned criminologist Terry Goldsworthy believes the concerns raised by the auditor-general should be referred to the state's Crime and Corruption Commission.

"It's not just the fact it's sloppy bookkeeping. What's seen here suggests there's been deliberate manipulation. In other words, a process has been undertaken to mislead," he said.

http://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/queensland-police-soliciting-victims-to-withdraw-complaints-in-bid-to-cut-crime-rate-report-finds/ar-BBAnSWt

Vic Police have 'lost the plot': Glare

Former police commissioner Kel Glare says he's prepared to be labelled "mongrel of the month" by saying Victoria Police has "lost the plot" when it comes to crime prevention.

Mr Glare says the "crime tsunami" hitting Victoria wouldn't have happened under his watch.

"When it comes down to it, we need a radical change from what we are seeing now," he told reporters in Melbourne.

"Victoria Police has withdrawn most or if not all of their crime preventative measures."

The Community Advocacy Alliance, which Mr Glare heads, released its Plan 100 for law and order in the Victoria on Wednesday with the backing of opposition leader Matthew Guy.

It focuses on crime prevention through programs for youth and making the victim the centre of the justice system.

Mr Glare was the state's chief commissioner from 1987 to 1992.

http://www.news.com.au/national/breaking-news/vic-police-have-lost-the-plot-glare/news-story/1b99778b5d2a72f9d3d89c89f6b284c3

Qld. Police 'too busy' to answer TWO domestic violence calls for help as 'woman is repeatedly knocked to the ground

<i>The Gold Coast cops are notorious.  They were probably just sitting in front of their computers</i>

A Gold Coast man who twice called police to report domestic violence was both times told officers were 'too busy'.

A man, only identified as Marcus, had been walking along Surf Parade just after midnight earlier this month when he saw a man and woman fighting. Footage taken on his phone and shared with 7 News showed the man push the woman down, and grab her handbag when she didn't get up.

He says he made two phone calls to police - one at 12.32am and one at 12.49am, each lasting about two minutes.

Each time, he says he was told officers could not immediately attend as they were busy. 'To get the reply that I got was just beyond belief,' he said.

The video also shows Marcus approach the woman and ask if she is okay. 'Yeah I'm okay, please just keep walking, please,' she responded.  'I could tell that she was scared that her life might have been in danger,' Marcus told the broadcaster. 'I waited a further 20 minutes and no police arrived.'

A spokesperson for Queensland Police confirmed to Daily Mail Australia no officers were available on the night to attend the scene immediately.

'Police were tasked to several other urgent jobs, and a primary response unit was not immediately available,' they said. 'A crew was tasked at 1.58am and patrolled the area shortly afterwards.'

John-Paul Langbroek, the Member for Parliament for Surfers Paradise, told 7 News it was an issue that required an investigation.  'No-one should ever be told when you ring 000 we're too busy to help you,' he said.

<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4414308/Police-busy-answer-domestic-violence-call.html">SOURCE</a>

Two Vic cops in court on assault, perjury

Two Victoria Police officers who allegedly assaulted a pair of teens and lied about it are expected to front court in Melbourne.

Senior Constables Simon Mareangareu and Dennis Gundrill face charges of assault, false imprisonment, perjury and attempting to pervert the course of justice over an altercation involving two teenage boys near a Vermont convenience store on Christmas Day 2014.

The pair are expected in Melbourne Magistrates' Court for a committal hearing on Tuesday.

Court documents allege the officers deleted a video and audio recording from a mobile phone belonging to one of the teens, made a false statement and compiled false evidence against the teenage boys.

Among seven witnesses listed to testify is the father of one of the boys.

Mareangareu, 52, and Gundrill, 58, were initially charged with assault, but conversations between the OPP and Professional Standards Command found it would also be appropriate to lay other charges, police have previously said.

<a href="http://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/two-vic-cops-in-court-on-assault-perjury/ar-BBzWMLv">SOURCE</a>

Whistleblower suing Federal cops over reprisals

AN Australian Federal Police agent is claiming $10.3 million in damages from the organisation for allegedly seeking reprisal against him after he became a whistleblower.

AFP agent Bradley Turner, 37, who is on worker’s compensation for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) through Comcare, is suing the AFP in the Federal Court of Australia for allegedly breaching the Public Interest Disclosure (PID) Act.

The Act was introduced in 2013 to encourage public officials to report suspected wrongdoing in the Australian public sector and to "offer protection to ‘whistleblowers’ from reprisal action".

But Mr Turner said the organisation failed to abide by the Act when he reported "government sanctioned ethnic cleansing, murder, rape and corruption" to the AFP in Lae, Papua New Guinea, while he was deployed there in 2013-14.

The AFP members deployed to PNG under the International Deployment Group are based there as advisers and mentors to PNG Police and don’t have powers to enforce laws.

According to Mr Turner, AFP responded to his reports of PNG Police misconduct by leading "constant internal investigations into (him) for being a whistleblower", and allegedly tried to "ruin (his) reputation" by discrediting him.

"When I told internal affairs their investigation was illegal because I had protections under the Act, I was told ‘we don’t give a sh*t about that, you spoke out and will be dealt with," Mr Turner told news.com.au.

"They told other AFP members not to talk to me, you name it, they went for the jugular".

A spokesperson for the AFP told news.com.au the organisation "does not comment on matters that are the subject of court proceedings".
AFP officer Brad Turner in Lae during his deployment.

AFP officer Brad Turner in Lae during his deployment.Source:Supplied

Mr Turner said he was "suing the AFP for $10.3 million" with the "largest component of that (being) 30 years worth of salary".

"My career is effectively over," he said.

"I can’t go back to the AFP for having been a whistleblower.

"The reprisals against me brought about my PTSD and made it worse."

Mr Turner said the incidents he reported took place in crime hotspot Lae, the capital of the country’s second-largest province, as exclusively revealed by news.com.au.

"We were witnessing ethnic cleansing and some murders (by PNG Police) ... stuff like shooting unarmed civilians ... and it was being covered up (by the AFP) ... because of political interests in PNG ... including the asylum seeker resettlement deal on Manus," Mr Turner said.

In a previous statement, an AFP spokesperson said the organisation "does not have the jurisdiction to conduct investigations in Papua New Guinea".

"The AFP received a large amount of material from (Mr Turner) in both July 2015 and September 2015 relating to a number of matters during his deployment in PNG during 2013 and 2014," the spokesperson said.

"The AFP reviewed this material and did not identify any matters requiring further action by the AFP.

"The AFP has not received any reports from AFP members deployed to PNG alleging that they have observed Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary officers involved in murders."

Mr Turner said he provided witness reports, including photographs, about violence and murders in Lae to AFP management but alleged they weren’t included in the weekly reports sent by the organisation in PNG to Canberra.

"The AFP should have briefed government who then could have applied pressure through AusAID or the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trading," he said.

At one point, Mr Turner was under investigation for the murder of a PNG local in custody but was later cleared after the AFP found there was no evidence to support the claim.

Mr Turner said he has been unable to work since returning to Australia because of his PTSD.

"When I returned home, I put my hand up for help, and they (AFP) went after me hammer and tong," he said.

He said the AFP "fought tooth and nail" to prevent him from getting his Comcare claim approved although it was eventually accepted.

"The claim was eventually approved due to the weight of evidence that I was able to provide to Comcare such as medical reports, photographic evidence of traumatic incidences and my outstanding performance evaluation which specifically mentioned several incidences," he said.

"What worries me is how many officers from PNG put in claims and got knocked back.

"I had photographic evidence which helped me, it’s highly unlikely everyone else has that as well.

"I would never have gotten PTSD if the reporting from Lae was not sanitised and if the AFP had conducted a proper investigation into it instead of continuing the cover up."

The case has been to the Australian Federal Court for mention with both parties expected to attend a hearing on May 15 if not settled prior.

Mr Turner is one of almost 100 AFP Agents, past and present, who have come forward about a mental health crisis within the organisation, after it was exposed by news.com.au.

The whistleblowers have shared their concerns over bullying, the wellbeing of members and inadequate welfare support within the organisation after an agent took her own life at the AFP Melbourne headquarters last month.

Following news.com.au’s reports, the Australian National Audit Office has ordered an audit "to examine the effectiveness of the AFP in managing the mental health of its employees" and is currently taking submissions from the public. The Australian Federal Police Association is also pushing senators for an inquiry into the AFP.

<a href="http://www.news.com.au/national/courts-law/you-ruined-my-career-pay-me-10m-traumatised-agent-suing-the-afp-for-huge-sum/news-story/8c6e1c9a70745dc4418973d028db1323">SOURCE</a>

Apex crime gang declared a 'non-entity' by Victoria Police

<i>So all the people who reported being robbed and assaulted by Africans were colour-blind?  Give us a break!  Victoria police are notorious for cover-ups so the report below should be taken with a shaker full of salt.  But you can to some extent read between the lines.  Take this neat little utterance:


</i>"Predominantly, a large cohort of that gang was in fact Australian-born offenders," Deputy Commissioner Patton said<i>


Maybe they were.  But who were their parents? Africans?

In any case, the problem is African crime, not one particular gang.  And African crime is huge in Melbourne, as it is wherever there are Africans</i>


Victoria Police have declared the Apex crime gang a "non-entity" saying it is no longer and never was predominantly African.

Giving evidence to a Parliamentary Inquiry into Migrant Settlement Outcomes, Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton said at its peak the gang consisted of about 130 people who loosely claimed to be members.

He said it was now in recession and was not made up of one or two ethnicities, but from people from a range of backgrounds.  "Predominantly, a large cohort of that gang was in fact Australian-born offenders," Deputy Commissioner Patton said

Police said they now believed they had "broken the back" of the gang. "We have charged the leaders of that gang and imprisoned them," he said. "We would call them a non-entity in terms of a gang."

The spectre of Apex came to prominence at the Moomba riots in 2016, when youths ran amok in the CBD and thrust the idea of migrant crime to the forefront.

In its first incarnation, the gang was named after a Dandenong Street and was made up of South Sudanese and Pacific Islanders.

The inquiry is being chaired by Liberal MP, and former police officer, Jason Wood who has been outspoken about the so-called threat of Apex and migrant crime gangs in Melbourne and called for the Federal Government to crack down.

However, the inquiry heard after the Moomba riots it morphed into an all encompassing group loosely linked through social media.

Deputy Commissioner Patton said the carjackings, home invasions and jewellery store robberies that have plagued Melbourne are being carried out by criminals from all backgrounds. "Over 50 per cent of them are Australians," he repeated when questioned by Mr Wood.

Commander of Victoria Police's anti-gangs division, Peter De Santo, said there may be "some remnants" of the Apex gang but they have morphed into "networked offending" linked by social media.

He added that Middle Eastern crime gangs had recruited some "disadvantaged youth" but it was the exception to the rule.
 
<a href="http://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/apex-crime-gang-declared-a-non-entity-by-victoria-police/ar-BBzKnWB">SOURCE</a>