Releasing CCTV footage showing a man allegedly being bashed by Gold Coast police officers, was not a whistleblower act, Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson said this afternoon.
Mr Atkinson faced the media over the excessive use of force allegations, which were highlighted in The Courier-Mail today.
He said the matter was being jointly investigated by the Ethical Standards Command and the Crime and Misconduct Commission and while he could promise there would be a “full and thorough and exhaustive” investigation into the matter, it was not his place to “pre-judge” the outcome which could be weeks away.
However Mr Atkinson said an investigation into the allegation had been launched shortly after the gentleman involved made a complaint about the January 29 incident on February 6.
The commissioner said while it was not a primary factor of the investigation, who leaked the watch house footage of the alleged incident in the basement of the Surfers Paradise police station.
“The gentleman had made the complaint and the Ethical Standards Command had the footage and we need to be clear about that, that is not a whistleblower act, there is nothing there that is exposing or uncovering anything,” Mr Atkinson said.
“The complaint had been made, it was being investigated, the Ethical Standards Command had the footage. What someone has done has given the footage selectively to one media outlet. That is not appropriate.”
One officer, who Mr Atkinson said was at the primary focus of the investigation, has been removed from operational duties but was still working with Queensland police.
The other officers featured in the leaked footage had been questioned as part of the investigation, Mr Atkinson said.
Mr Atkinson said he did not believe the media investigation had sped up the progression of the ethical standards investigation.
“There have been developments today, which I can’t go into which resulted in the officer being removed from operational duties, he has not been stood down,” Mr Atkinson said.
“The progression of it [the Ethical Standards Command investigation] to the decision today to remove the officer from operational duties would have occurred anyway.
“If it was a result of the media, I’d tell you about it, but it is not my view that it is.”
However he did call on the unnamed police officer quoted in The Courier-Mail as saying bashings were not rare and complaints were often dismissed, to come forward.
“We have come a long way in the Queensland Police Service,” he said.
“This year is 25 years since the start of the Fitzgerald Inquiry and the officer had my absolute assurance that he or she will be totally protected and supported if they come forward with information that is valid.
“There is no question of that. If there is any doubt at all, what I urge the officer to do is to contact the Crime and Misconduct Commission and discuss the matter.”
In answering a reporter’s question about the reputation of the Surfers Paradise police station for thuggery, Mr Atkinson said any “claims like that needed to be backed up with evidence”.
But he did say that officers in some areas had a more difficult job than others.
“It is important to recognise police officers do a difficult job, a job that often, often compromises their own safety and we have to find the right balance here and in some areas of the state, and Surfers Paradise is one, it is more difficult than it is in others and statistics bear that out.”
Mr Atkinson said for the past five years, complaints regarding excessive use of force by Queensland police officers had remained steady at the 600 to 700 mark, despite the number of police officers increasing.
“In reality, the rate of complaints is going down,” he said.
Mr Atkinson said “every one” of the complaints was taken “very seriously” and were referred to the Crime and Misconduct Commission.
However he made a point to speak about the number of assaults against police officers.
Mr Atkinson said during the last statistical year, 2331 of 10,557 police officers had been assaulted.
He said while the state wide average equated to 22 assaults for every 100 Queensland police officers, the Gold Coast police district’s rate was 37 assaults for every 100 police.
The Commissioner said the Gold Coast had the second highest rate of public nuisance offences in the state [behind Brisbane central, which encompasses the city and Fortitude Valley] with a rate of 931 public nuisance offences for every 100,000 people.
He compared that to Ipswich which had 389 [per 100,000 people], Caboolture [386 per 100,000 people] and Wynnum which had a rate of 206 public nuisance offences registered per 100,000 people and said Surfers Paradise alone had 230 licensed premises.
While admitting it had not been a good week for the Queensland Police Service, Mr Atkinson said he did not believe the QPS had “gone backwards” or was at “a crisis point”.
“I don’t believe it [recent events] is systemic of an organisational problem,” he said.
“What I do believe is your police, my police the Queensland Police Service are nearly 11,000 men and women who are drawn from how community, who do slightly over six months training and go out onto the street and they face and deal with the most difficult and dangerous circumstances, who are also subject to all of the normal human stresses that we are all subject to in our daily loves,” he said.
“And what can happen is people can become de-sensitised with dealing with violence and difficult situations and sometimes their judgment can be frayed.
“Everyday in Queensland, at a conservative estimate, we have over 14,000 interactions with the community…..of those 14,000 interactions daily; there is less than 10 complaints.
“And if you think about the nature of police work, then I think, whilst I would like to see it as less, I think that is acceptable.’’