A senior constable from western Victoria was sentenced last year to nearly five years in prison for crimes committed during a 2020 gathering at his home. This case reflects a broader pattern of police misconduct, revealed in a recent report.
Between January 2019 and June 2024, 683 Victoria Police officers and public servants were investigated for sex crimes and family violence offences, prompting Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton to express grave concern.
“It’s an alarming number, it’s a number we don’t want to be talking about,” Patton told ABC Radio.
“But it also goes to show that we are prepared and do investigate, and we have taken a range of initiatives to really try and put a stop to this behaviour.”
He highlighted the scale of the problem, acknowledging that, “Anything more than one is high, but when you say you’ve got between 130 or 140 employees you’re investigating on a yearly basis, yes, that’s a significant concern.”
The report detailed that 269 individuals were investigated for predatory behaviour or sexual harassment, while 185 faced allegations of sexual offences, including rape and crimes against children. In just the first half of 2024, 89 individuals were probed for family violence incidents.
Many of these alleged crimes occurred both on and off duty, demonstrating the systemic nature of the issue.
Acting Victorian Premier Ben Carroll called for urgent action, describing family violence as “the number one law and order issue in this state.”
Persistent Predatory Behaviour Unveiled
A report from the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) in June 2023 confirmed that predatory behaviour remains a pressing problem within Victoria Police, despite ongoing reform efforts.The findings indicated that women experiencing domestic violence were often targeted by officers.
Over half of the cases reviewed involved repeated offences against multiple victims.
Additionally, four officers implicated were from units specifically tasked with working with vulnerable groups, including children in state care.
The IBAC report also noted a concerning tolerance for inappropriate behaviour within the force, exacerbated by inadequate action from supervisors.
It criticised the lack of a standard requirement for officers to disclose intimate workplace relationships, which allowed some cases of misconduct to go unchecked.
Calls for Systemic Reforms
The IBAC report issued a series of recommendations to address these entrenched problems. These included using real-life case studies in training to encourage a “speak up” culture and improve the reporting of misconduct.It also suggested adding a “harm” section in complaint investigations to evaluate the broader impact of alleged behaviour on victims and workplaces.
Additionally, IBAC recommended stronger record-keeping practices, ethical profiling of officers accused of misconduct, and clearer guidelines for managing workplace relationships that may raise ethical concerns.
Chief Commissioner Patton underscored the force’s commitment to tackling these issues but acknowledged the work ahead.
“Obviously, it spans a range of offences—family violence, sexual offending, and predatory behaviour from engagement with people that they may have encountered in their duties.”
