Evidence of predatory behaviour within the Victoria Police, including the abuse of power relationships in the force, has been highlighted by a thematic review of police investigations by the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission.
The IBAC team reviewed 27 investigations conducted by Victoria Police into the conduct of officers to assess the kinds of behaviours that are prevalent in the force.
It found that predatory behaviour continues within the ranks, the misconduct is underreported and more than half of the cases involved a pattern of behaviour against more than one individual.
Women in environments where domestic or family violence occurred were targets of predatory conduct. This is consistent with a previous report on predatory behaviour in the police force released in 2015.
“Just over half of all cases reviewed indicated some level of tolerance of inappropriate behaviour and/or inaction by supervisors and managers in response to allegations,” the report said.
“Concerningly, four subject officers in the cases reviewed were from units undertaking sensitive work involving close contact with very vulnerable members of the public, including children in the care of the state.”
There was also a finding that there was no requirement for officers to declare intimate relationships in the workplace even though the Victoria Police Manual says some consensual workplace relationships may be predatory.
Investigation methodology was also considered by IBAC in its review of the 27 investigations and it found that most of the investigations took a victim-centric approach with findings that were evidence-based, and the investigations resulted in appropriate sanctions.
There were, however, instances where disciplinary action taken was inadequate.
The identification and management of risks arising from investigations was done early and risk mitigation took place when complaints were made and then as investigations continued.
“In some cases, Victoria Police’s Discipline Advisory Unit (now the Legal Discipline Advisory Unit) provided problematic advice to investigators, including recommending sanctions that were not consistent with investigation findings, Victoria Police standards or community expectations,” the review said.
A series of recommendations were made by IBAC and accepted by Victoria police that related to updating training materials to include deidentified case studies, encourage people to speak up when problems occur, the need to improve record keeping of meetings where predatory behaviour is being discussed, and the provision of clearer guidance on when employees should be disclosing any consensual workplace relationship that could be perceived as predatory.
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