A SCATHING report on alleged police misconduct has revealed how some officers were so desperate to solve crime, they resorted to unlawful measures.
The Courier-Mail reports evidence gathered during the Crime and Misconduct Commission's investigation, known as Operation Capri, shows how senior-ranking police allegedly disregarded policies and procedures to achieve an incredible 86 per cent clearance rate for armed robberies.
In numerous examples detailed in the 142-page Dangerous Liaisons report, police bent the rules to remove prisoners from custody with the aim of obtaining confessions and evidence.
Central to the investigation was the alleged misuse of an "informant fund" set up by the Australian Bankers Association as a reward for information leading to arrests. Although 77 payments were made out of the fund, only 33 complied with the procedures established by police and the ABA.
"Evidence gathered during the operation suggests that opportunistic officers exploited both a lack of accountability and of supervision to take personal advantage of the informant funds," the report said.
Some of the allegations raised in the report also suggested some police in the Armed Robbery Unit:
• Forged the signatures of informants.
• Knowingly furnished false documents.
• Falsely claimed payments had been made to informants.
• Misappropriated money from the informant funds.
• Fabricated audio recordings and written receipts as evidence payments had been made.
In one of the most stunning cover-ups, officers fabricated an audio tape as proof of payment to an informant.
Although they claimed the tape had been made in a Brisbane cafe during a meeting of two police officers and an informant, the CMC investigation found it was had been recorded in the police headquarters carpark using an officer "posing" as the informant.
Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson said that, while the intentions of those police involved were honourable – to solve crime – their methods were undeniably improper.
"Later rather than admit what had occurred, there were disingenuous response and false statements, accompanied in some cases by attempts to cover up accounts which made a bad situation worse," he said.
"Police must work within the framework of lawful procedures, not around or outside them."
