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Wood Royal
Commission on
Police Corruption
- Submission outline
- JA Submission
- Prisoner Survey
- Interim Report
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Overview - April 1997
Since it's inception in 1987, the Independent Commission Against Corruption failed to uncover or disclose corruption in the NSW Police forces.
The Royal Commission into Corruption in the NSW Police Service was then empowered by NSW Consolidated Act in 1994 and began deliberations. The Act can be downloaded here:
http://austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/rcsa1994334/s1.html
Two and one half years later, Justice James Wood ended the investigations of the Commission in March of 1997, finding endemic and systematic corruption. Justice Wood is scheduled to issue his final report to Parliament in mid-1997.
The Police Integrity Commission was formed by NSW Consolidated Act in 1996 as a result of the Wood Commission's interim findings. The Act can be downloaded at:
http://austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/pica1996312/s1.html
In the later stages of the Wood Royal Commission (late '97), Peter Ryan was appointed as the new NSW Police Commissioner. Ryan has dismissed many of the previous deputy commissioners and upper management and has initiated a reorganisation of all police services
Whether Ryan can significantly change the police culture and the underlying attitudes that breed an environment of corruption remains to be seen.
Initial steps by Ryan & Minister of Police Whelan are cause for concern:
In March '97, Ryan disbands Special Branch of the NSW Police Service.
The 'elite' Special Branch institutionalised corruption. Supposedly formed to protect officials and diplomats, SB engaged in domestic surveillance of community and civil liberty groups and lawyers during the normal course of representation of clients and defendants.
At the start of the Wood Royal Commission, SB destroyed over 30,000 files and dossiers. The fate of the remaining 20,000 has yet to be determined. The NSW Council for Civil Liberties, Justice Action and numerous other community groups have demanded that the files be returned to their owners and all copies destroyed.
In April '97, Ryan announced the resurrection of a 'new' Special Branch, until forced to withdraw plans by Minister of Police Ryan.
In early '97, Ryan adopts New York-style Zero Tolerance crime policies for 'quality-of-life' crimes.
Zero Tolerance further increases the powers of a police service proven to be incapable of proper use of existing powers. It further criminalises the activities of the public, despite evidence that, generally, the crime rate has remained stable according to the NSW Crime and Statistics Research Unit, the Australian Institute of Criminology, the Public Prosecutor and numerous judges.
Evidence from NY indicates a dramatic rise in complaints by the public of police abuse, especially from those groups in the minority. Courts are buckling under the dramatic rise in caseload from petty offences, with defendants who are awaiting arraignment held in excess of 72 hours. Zero Tolerance in NY was quickly followed by a significant increase in the police budget and a matching decrease in budget allotments for education and social welfare programs.
Ryan and Whelan have introduced the Street Safety Bill, targeting youth.
The Street Safety Bill will further increase police powers. At the direction of local councils, police can identify any gathering of three or more youth as a gang and disperse or otherwise detain them.
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Justice Action has obtained the permission of the Executive Officer of the Wood Royal Commission to distribute the public files of the Wood Royal Commission to NSW prison libraries. Permission has subsequently been granted by the legal department of the Department of Corrective Services and the Commissioner.
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The public files are intended for research purposes only and not for profit use.
They can otherwise be obtained upon application from the Wood Royal Commission at
an apporximate cost of +$1000.
The public transcript of the Wood Royal Commission is a vital resource for those who are imprisoned and suspect that corrupt police played a role in obtaining a conviction. These files can be searched by name of suspect officer who testified before the Commission. They contain relevant information from the corruption hearings, excepting those names and evidence suppressed by court order.
Justice Action strongly encourages prison libraries and inmate development committees to begin application for the purpose of obtaining a copy. A Justice Action volunteer has also compiled a searchable index in Microsoft Word format, on floppy disk, to accompany the files. Applications should be submitted to the appropriate library supervisor at each facility and should request $80 to cover our costs.
Our original transcript is in CD form. If your library does not have a CD Rom drive, indicate the size and type of storage disk that your computer system requires. We will attempt to duplicate in a form that each library can read.
Once you have made written application to the education, library or responsible officer, please write to Justice Action in order to inform us of all details. Please also indicate the number and type(s) of computers that your library uses. Be as specific as is possible and include information about peripheral devices and the particular software installed on your system.
| Author:
Justice Action | Contact:
Justice Action
65 Bellevue St, Glebe NSW Au 2037
Ph: +61 2 9660 9111 Fx: +61 2 9660 9100
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