Slow Wheels of Justice !

Nineteen month old Skye Sassine died in her parents car on New Year's Eve, 2009 when a bandit being pursued at high speed by police crashed into the family vehicle.  It seems unbelievable that it took until this week for the Coroner's Inquest to be handed down.

The Coroner was critical of two of the police drivers involved in that pursuit. He found that they seemed to be "charged with Adrenalin " when they tore through fourteen red lights and attained speeds of 160 kph.  Inboard cameras in the police cars delivered images of them shouting obscenities at other drivers as they pursued an armed robber who had held up a liquor store.

The bandit was sentenced to fourteen years prison for Skye's manslaughter and this needless death led to the enactment of what became known as "Skye's Law " - which imposes a three year prison term on those who try to evade police and cause a high speed police chase.  The police pursuit drivers had their high speed driving accreditation suspended for a short time.

Many will question the length of time the compilation of this report took and the long delay before it finally was released.   There seems no intricate mystery to be investigated.  A bandit held up a liquor store and the police were called, resulting in a chase with fatal consequences.   Why would it take six years to determine the facts - and write a report ?

Another case simmering in the background seems to be mired in endless delay.  Fourteen years ago deception was used to have a judge sign off on false reports that led to the bugging of the homes and offices of 114 serving police officers.   It seems clear that this was a matter of tactical moves to influence promotional opportunities but it had devastating consequences.   Some officers were seriously maligned, resulting in resignations and suicides.  Clearly, creating these false investigations involved indictable offences - but so far no charges have been laid.

Both the instigators and the victims are still serving, side by side and numerous enquiries seem to have run into dead ends.   The state Ombudsman has been investigating for over two years - at a cost of over $ 3 million - and seems no nearer tabling a report.  As a consequence, the police commissioner has had his term extended because the likely successors are the very people involved in this imbroglio.

Now we learn that the Ombudsman is about to retire - and that this will happen without that report ever reaching finality.  Presumably it will land on someone else's desk and that person would be perfectly entitled to reject any findings reached and start again from scratch.  It is evident that there are ructions at the top of the New South Wales police force that are so serious that if they ever see the light of day they will probably totally destroy the entire command structure.

It seems that the state government, the police unions - and certainly those that richly deserve punishment - are all complicit in creating delay and hoping that what is really a crime committed within our police force fades from the public mind - and never reaches a conclusion.

How can we expect the rank and file police who do a dangerous and demanding job have confidence in the trust and integrity of their superiors when it is perfectly clear that what amounts to a serious crime is being ignored - and that it is unlikely that the offenders will be punished  ?

As long as this matter continues to fester we will have a tarnished police hierarchy and - as a consequence - a police force that lacks the confidence of the public.   It is time this investigation reaches conclusion - and the guilty face the consequences !