Canberra's top cop rules out 'systemic issues' despite spike in corruption and serious misconduct complaints

Allegations of serious misconduct by police have more than tripled in the past year, while complaints of corruption have more than doubled, according to ACT Policing’s latest annual report.

The Australian Federal Police received a total of 220 allegations against members of ACT Policing over the past financial year, nearly double the 122 reported in 2022/23.

The allegations are divided into four categories: “minor management issues, customer service and performance matters”, “minor misconduct and inappropriate behaviour”, “serious misconduct” and “corruption issues”.

The largest increases concerned serious misconduct and corruption issues.

Allegations of serious misconduct were up from 32 in 2022/23 to 103 this year, while allegations of corruption spiked from eight to 17, although 10 of these related to a single complaint.

Serious misconduct covers breaches of the use of force of a “serious nature” or causing injury, while corruption includes “abuse of office” and perverting the course of justice.

The report notes that all serious misconduct and corruption allegations are investigated by the AFP’s Professional Standards team, with serious misconduct also reported to the Commonwealth Ombudsman for “additional oversight”, while corruption is reported to the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity (ACLEI).

Up to 10 of the serious misconduct allegations and two of the corruption allegations were “established” during these processes, with the remainder either “not established” or finalised as “discretion not to proceed”.

During an interview with ABC radio on Wednesday morning (4 December), ACT Policing Chief Police Officer Scott Lee said “some of the increase” can be attributed to a “different recording process that’s been in put in place in terms of how we capture that data”.

“What has previously occurred is if an allegation had been reported to police … and if that allegation was not substantiated in the initial triage process, then that wasn’t captured in terms of how the data was reported,” he said.

“For the first time this year, following an audit report that was undertaken about professional standards reporting, that data is now captured. So that’s contributed to part of that increase.”

He said that following a “robust” investigation process, one member of ACT Policing was dismissed this year, but a “range of other sanctions” are available for offending officers.

The CPO added that “certainly” the majority of the allegations are not established.

“I have no concerns that we have any systemic issues with corruption at all,” he said.

“When you look at the numbers of the police officers involved, it’s a very small number. When you look at those 17 allegations, I think that’s in the order of five or six members.

“We don’t want any of those allegations in the police force, but when they do come to our attention, we do deal with them appropriately.”

One of this year’s cases includes the arrest in June of a 38-year-old man of African descent named Tuck.

The owner of a Narrabundah townhouse, Tuck was placed in handcuffs by five male police officers on suspicion of trespassing after a neighbour told him he didn’t belong by the complex’s pool and barbecue area.

After a search of his house, they released him and left without apology but Tuck filed a complaint with police, accusing them of racism.

The CPO subsequently said a review of the officer’s body-cam footage revealed they had “acted appropriately” and “they certainly weren’t racially profiling the individual”.

CPO Lee said the matter is still under investigation.

Complaints against ACT Policing can be submitted by any member of the public either by visiting your nearest police station and speaking with an officer in person, completing an online form, or by contacting the AFP Workplace Issues and Resolution Team on 02 5126 8323.