" Vendettas " in the Police Force !

Being a police officer confers power to an individual way beyond that bestowed on ordinary citizens.  If there are flaws in that persons conscience it is quite possible for an officer to become corrupt and use those powers for personal gain.   That is the reason that the police force has a supervising authority to keep watch over it's personnel and root out those who succumb to temptation.

It seems that in New South Wales the use of special powers to detect corruption in the police force evolved into what can only be called a " vendetta " to settle old scores.  It raises the question that has long bedevilled those whose duty it is to oversee such a vast and powerful body of men and women.    Who watches over those with the task of watching others ?

Many honest police officers shudder when they hear the name " Special Crime and Internal Affairs "  ( SCIA ) mentioned.    This is the dreaded " Internal Affairs " body that looks over every police officer's shoulder and can put amazing interpretations on even the most beneign decisions.   It is a cops worst nightmare to be hauled before such an enquiry and made to defend decisions made under pressure in the work field.

An amazing situation is now coming to light regarding just such a scenario that prevailed in this state, dating back to 2003.    It involved the " bugging " of over a hundred honest police officers and the use of a corrupt under cover policeman  who was forced to wear a " wire " and record conversations with other police to gain evidence.    He quickly discovered that this was no ordinary Internal Affairs investigation.   This was a vendetta being run by his boss - to settle old scores.

No doubt the media will expose what it can glean of these events, but it is the nature of the police force to enforce a wall of silence and close down as many " dirty little secrets " as it can and prevent them becoming public knowledge.   Strangely, it is this right of silence that the same police force is demanding be removed from the bill of rights available to the criminal milieu.

Keeping " Internal Affairs " honest has been something that police forces the world over have attempted for many decades.  It is said that power corrupts - and absolute power corrupts - absolutely !    The power to eavesdrop on others under the mantle of authority opens an endless opportunity to use that knowledge for personal gain.

Perhaps the only possible solution is to change the people who man " Internal Affairs "  at frequent intervals.  Corruption thrives on both opportunity - and tenure of positions of power.    Disrupt that - and you remove the consolidation of opportunities that fester under the banner of " the end justifies the means ".