Where to go Now !

The investigation into the police bugging of a hundred cops to try and influence the selection of the next police Commissioner was doomed from its inception.   The fact that it broke the law was totally ignored.   It simply became an incestuous witch hunt to muddy up the waters and prevent the warfare that is being waged in the top level of the police command from becoming public.

In the end, it evolved into a nine hundred page report by the New South Wales Ombudsman which rambled on for ten years and cost $10 million.   When that concluded, just about everyone named in the proceedings disagreed with its findings.

Now the NSW Crime Commission has taken the extraordinary step of making public its damning response.   It has labelled the Ombudsman's report as flawed and many of the recommendations are based upon errors of fact/or law.    This response claimed that the Ombudsman's report " lacked procedural fairness ", misled witnesses and that it's findings and recommendations are " technically  invalid and of no legal effect ".

That seems to be precisely - word for word - exactly what Deputy Commissioner Nick Kaldos claimed at the time he was on the witness stand - and it seems that Kaldos was the main target of this entire bugging probe.   He was a cop with an impeccable record who commanded the admiration of the rank and file and seemed destined for elevation as the next police commissioner.

The Ombudsman report accused Kaldos of giving " false and misleading " evidence in a secret hearing and suggested he could face criminal charges.   That seemed sufficient for him to be formally rejected in choosing a new police commissioner and upon being formally told of that decision he resigned from the police force.   Junior police ranks commented that Kaldos was " the best police commissioner we never had " !

Now this imbroglio has landed on the shoulders of new state premier Gladys Berejiklian.  The present police commissioner has extended his retirement several times but has announced that he will quit next month.  The appointment of a replacement is now a matter of urgency, and those same faces that instigated this police bugging scandal are leading contenders for the job.

This is leading to a " pressure cooker " moment for the government.  It is unsafe to disregard the power that resides in the top echelon of the state police.   When a state government implements an unpopular decision it is the police who man the barricades and stop protesters running riot in the city. There is a degree of thuggishness in the way police do their job and it is well known that they never apologise for their mistakes.

Logic says that the best course of action would be to reinstate Nick Kaldos and give him the job, but  that may not sit well with the police hierarchy.   Kaldos is a reformer and many senior cops would resent any interference with the cosy arrangements they have to wield power in the community.  When the new commissioner is revealed, it will say a lot about whether the government was courageous - or whether it opted for safety !