The Thin Blue Line !

Once again there is innuendo that all is not well within the ranks of the New South Wales police force.  A young woman was tortured and brutally murdered by a criminal who had serious drug charges mysteriously withdrawn on the recommendation of a senior police officer.  As a consequence, there is a witch hunt within the force to determine just how this release happened.

Disturbing facts are coming to the fore.  This officer has risen through the ranks despite some behaviour that came close to dismissal from the force.  He was involved in a drunken brawl at a cricket match at the SCG and on another occasion he tried to avoid a RBT check and during the escape attempt he crashed a police car.  He received reprieves from two police commissioners.

There is also a suggestion that he is homophobic.  Openly gay officers now serve in the police and when two gay police served at the same station as this officer they were placed under surveillance because it was suggested there could be drug use.  This cost over $ 250,000 in police wages alone, and the eventual finding was that there was "no evidence "of drug use or other misconduct.

Perhaps our expectations of the police are unrealistic.   We take ordinary men and women and have them serve a lengthy training period at the police academy.  That is supposed to rid them of phobias and prejudices and make them suitable to deliver justice on the streets.   We seem to forget that they are also human beings with all those old ingrained beliefs hammered in by religion, politics and the natural cultures of their race of origin.

Wearing the blue uniform of the police force opens many doors of opportunity for reward.  A police officer is the recipient of power.   His or her decision usually depends on whether a charge will be laid or the matter will be dismissed with a caution.   This places the officer in jeopardy when the matter involves a relative or a close friend. All police can be called upon to justify their decisions by an internal police tribunal.

Serving in the police is also a competitive environment.  The salary paid increases by rank and each vacancy is hotly contested by the many that are qualified for promotion.  Decisions are open to appeal and in many cases the decision rests on the whim of a senior officer and may not follow the usual criteria.   Personal loyalties contribute heavily to promotional choices when officers undertake empire building.

The integrity of individual police is protected by the police union and this has a powerful influence on the government.   Whenever the government undertakes political action that arouses a section of the public it is the police that they rely upon to keep order and ensure that the streets of the city are safe.   The ultimate disaster for any government would be the prospect of a police strike.

The dismissal of a police officer for misconduct is heavily influenced by this police union.  In the dark past, some notoriously corrupt police have survived repeated enquiries into their conduct and even survived accusations of murder.  Given the numbers involved, it is inevitable that at least a few serving officers are breaking rather than upholding the laws.

That is unlikely to change.  The only valid defence is to maintain checks and balances to keep corruption to a minimum.  !