o sung wu - 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.......?

:) :) :)

To some extent, police are victims of the broken political system, however one has to wonder why honest cops and / or their union don't make as much as a peep about establishment of a truly independent review entity, also removing traffic services from 'proper' policing. As I've said previously, I don't know a lot about policing in the mexican states but corruption is, and has always been rampant in Queensland. Furthermore we have a very 'interesting' ethical services command, the previous boss of which is enjoying some free accommodation as a consequence of importing military style weapons for sale to certain hard gentlemen. The police union is also 'interesting' having a certifiable lunatic at the helm. If those aren't sufficient reason for cynicism, the present police minister made multiple demands for a royal commission while in opposition, but funnily enough he refuses to acknowledge this now he's in the hot seat.

Its obvious that police will always be targets for criticism, whether justified or otherwise, nevertheless the public have every right to expect an absolutely squeaky clean police service in which any & all questions re propriety are addressed openly / transparently / honestly by a truly independent organization immune from undue influence. No amount of verbiage can ever justify police investigating police. Justice must not only be done, but far more importantly, it must be **SEEN** to be done. In theory at least, the CMC & equivalents (ICAC ??) perform this role, however in typical political fashion, interference is a fact of life. As always, Queensland leads the way in terms of how **NOT** to run a review organization. One area in which Queensland has adopted the national standard is in the use of 'independent'. Instead of the dictionary meaning, the common political usage is stacking the entity in question with compliant drones willing to do whatever is in the best interests of those who appointed them.

Paul
Your argument is sound and there would be no other acceptable course of action in the circumstances. Once all facts and evidence are in these officers can be reinstated or face whatever charges may apply

To some extent, police are victims of the broken political system, however one has to wonder why honest cops and / or their union don't make as much as a peep about establishment of a truly independent review entity,
praxidice,
My sentiments also, I often get dismayed to see decent Officers toeing the line when some incompetent Magistrate issues orders. It somehow makes an obliging officer just as guilty. How many times have officers told me how dismayed they were at some idiotic ruling by a magistrate yet these same officers continue to toe the line. If I were a Police Officer & I knew full well that the craphead I just caught has been getting away with his offences & is laughing at the Law I represent I'd actually let some other louts have a go at them. I'd simply tell the magistrate I didn't see anything. It would make me feel far more morally right then handing them over to some idiot Magistrate only to let them taunt me again. Our Judiciary is criminally incompetent. How can we judge them ? Demand a referendum on Law & Order.

individual

The only remotely do-able solution for most of the inadequacies of gubmunts that doesn't involve a total re-write of the constitution is enshrinement of Citizen Initiated Referenda. The judiciary is the province of utterly arrogant control freaks whose legislated 'independence' makes them untouchable little tin gods. Note that the only Australian politician in living memory who has proposed CIR has been targeted with all manner of probably spurious accusations when to my way of thinking he should be knighted. That aside, issues like police investigating police, stacked ethical standards units, political use of police for revenue-raising, well-corrobated evidence of police bashings (Surfers Paradise & Fortitude Valley being two that recur regularly), harrassment of whistle-blowers, duplicitous police ministers etc etc are absolutely guaranteed to destroy any residual public confidence in police generally.

G'day SONOFGLOIN & PRAXIDICE...

A situation I had years ago. Pulled a bloke, initially for excess speed. 'Blew' him and he was marginally over ? Turned out he was a really nice professional bloke from interstate, driving a NSW Reg. Rent a Car. We danced around his problem a bit, and in a moment of weakness, I did him for the speed offence only. Before cutting him loose, I tried to get his history from VKG, without success. Anyway he was ecstatically happy with the outcome, and I was pretty OK for being a real 'good bloke' by 'looking after' a decent, professional gentleman from interstate.

A couple of days later I had a shift break, in order to attend to the normal paper warfare. Purely for interest, I did a 'history' on this 'nice' fellow. And nearly fell out of my chair ! His traffic sheet should've been bound into a book ! How in hell's name did he manage to remain out of gaol with his appalling driving record, including two previous PCA's ?

Anyway there was nothing I could do about this clown now, as I'd initially cut him loose, and in doing so, technically offended myself.

The public say the police do nothing to curb the road toll ? Alternatively, they also claim all coppers are real uncaring bastards. None of them use their their common sense, and show some compassion ? A brief example. They (police) screen someone who's over, that individual automatically loses his licence, for a set period, and in some case his job. I recognise it's a very tough, even sad set of circumstances. Who do the public blame...the Police.

Another fatality on the road. Again, it's the police who are blamed for failing to do their jobs. The individual rarely sees fit to blame themselves ?

The critics of police ne'er seem to have the answer, do they ?

Who on earth would ever wish to pursue a career in the policing industry ?

o sung wu - Who on earth would ever wish to pursue a career in the policing industry ?

At the risk of being castigated for cynicism, I'll nominate ex schoolyard bullies who can't think of any other job in which they can continue to throw their weight around with relative impunity, then there are control freaks who don't suit another trade or profession, and rabid feminists compelled by a need to express their hatred of men. A few are decent individuals who just wanted a halfway regular job & policing was available. I even thought about it briefly albeit only in respect of a very specialized position. Mind you I dunno that any of the aforementioned fits me, I only had one punch-up at school, won that conclusively but was never into violence, I am anything but a control freak, I could **NEVER** work with a feminist, and I really never wanted a 'steady' job (almost exclusively self-employed). All that aside, every cop I've known reasonably well fits perfectly into one of the categories I listed. Schoolyard bullies are very very common, likewise control freaks. Thankfully I don't know many feminists but the few I do are without exception impossibly evil bitches, any of whom would make lucrezia borgia look like a saint. Around half are actually decent people, but then they are almost all all ex-cops who left because they couldn't abide the corruption in the Queensland operation.