I can’t understand how officers of the NSW police force have not been suspended from duty after being adversely named in Coronial and Ombudsman reports, and now recommended for criminal charges by the Police Integrity Commission, in regards to the death of Roberto Curti.
Suspending officers from general duties in a situation like this is not pr-judging their guilt or innocence, but is a reasonable protective measure to ensure that public confidence in police is maintained. Like all citizens police should have the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.
If allegations of this seriousness had been made against a doctor, a nurse or a teacher then it is almost certain that conditions would be placed on their employment to protect the public pending the outcome of any criminal proceedings, it should be no different for police. These police were given full procedural fairness in the Coroner’s Court who made a series of damning findings about their conduct on the night and perjury in the Court. To maintain public confidence in police their suspension from front line policing pending criminal proceedings is essential. In no way could such action be seen as a denial of due process, but rather a reasonable response to the potential risks of the situation. What is needed is an independent and properly resourced police oversight body that has the power to make binding recommendations. Until then public confidence in police will be tested.

It will be interesting to hear comments on this issue from the regulars with policing experience. I have quite a bit of knowledge of the dastardly doings of the Queensland tribe and thats not a pretty story at all. Only a very small percentage of misdeeds ever gets to be published, no doubt because there would undoubtedly be a public outcry if the real extent of the corruption was known. Its been suggested that Queensland is a special situation & other states are relatively 'clean', no doubt o sung wu can throw some light on the mexican situation.

o sung wo and others have not hidden a view things are not always right within the police force.
and not in any group or firm outside policing.
We tend not to look at those failures as much as we do the police matters.
I have, due to undue influence of a tow truck operator, and the police he employed, to salvage the loads of roll over trucks.
Been placed at my work place gate, in the back of a paddy wagon, and driven at speed, over a rough road.
To be both intimidated, and warned, not to get in the way, of the*joke* police had going with that bent user of the police he seemed to own, for a while..
Now Paul I am *CONVINCED* not one from that station I was taken to, or those that took me, new how foul the scam/theft was.
ICAC did, most but not all, in that scam are no longer police force members, not at my hands, but after fellow officers acted.
No one, then or now, stopped the wrongs being/still happening, selling government contracts brings public servants from my then workplace.
Any job/group has a culture, it is extremely hard to penetrate that culture.
A good Cop is worth far more than we pay them, a bad one is worse than nothing.
A PS my trip ended as those who know me would expect, I gave that Sergent a lecture not he me, and after the balloon went up he tried to become my mate, one of his underlings will be so forever.

Its a probably natural that members of any comparable organization would form a brotherhood, after all motorbike club members do and there isn't a massive difference between them and the various police forces .... when its all said and done, both are control freaks on power trips. The Gold Coast mob have been heard boasting they are the biggest 'club' in Queensland, mind you the still rampant corruption means the average person has less to fear from the Hells Angels than they do from the blue-uniformed fraternity. Before the do-gooders climb up on their soapboxes, when was the last time anyone saw the Hells Angels manning a roadside cash-register ?? Whilst a brotherhood is positive in terms of support, it also has very definite negative connatations in the tendency to cover up misdeeds. A particularly nasty extension of this which is all too prevalent in Queensland is intimidation & victimization of whistle-blowers. (yes Martha, I do know what I'm talking about however for obvious reasons I'm not about to supply any identifying information)

Hi there PRAXIDICE & my old mate BELLY...

These NSW coppers are a bad lot. We should lock em all up and turn the policing of the State, over to the only completely HONEST group in NSW the,.........the ah.......?

Paul I agree with all you have said. I was more comfortable with the professionalism of the pre royal Commission NSW force. Sure the armed holdup squad set up jobs for the crims, but nobody was murdered for stealing two packets of Iced Vo Vo’s.

About ten years ago a local Bondi resident had a psychotic episode and took a kitchen knife to Bondi beach. The cops talked to him for forty minutes, then he came too close and they shot him….I can understand that, the officer has a family at home, but these hyped up punks in uniform should be relieved of their duties given it is a coroners case.

We all consider that cops have a moral obligation along with their statutory ones; we consider that a cop is a good person, but the truth is that cops are just mercenaries, no offense OSW. I make this claim based on the fact that during WWII all the police forces in Europe helped the NAZI’s round up Jews. I believe the only exception was the Danes.