WESTERN Australia's royal commission into police corruption demonstrates
how easily the cancer caused by criminal officers can spread throughout the
force. This week's suicide of a senior sergeant named at the commission
starkly makes the point. The dead officer reportedly had the proof to
exonerate himself, but could not face the prospect of being publicly
identified as a bent cop. The moral responsibility for this officer's death
lies with the police whose behavior has tainted the wider force. Yet the
state's senior police and their political masters over the years are not
blameless, because they have refused to face up to the universal reality of
policing � that corruption is an ever-present danger among those invested
with powers over the citzenry.
In a state where two premiers have gone to prison in recent memory, it is
extraordinary that governments could underestimate the danger. The
Anti-Corruption Commission established in the mid-1990s could not compel
witnesses and was never up to the job. The state is now facing the
consequences of this inadequate approach, and learning the details of
widespread police corruption of a kind familiar in the eastern states,
especially NSW, where new scandals seemed an annual event throughout the
1990s.
The royal commission has learned details of police involvement in the
illegal drug trade. There are incidents of police fabricating evidence and
perjuring themselves to secure convictions. The most notable of these is
the extraordinary saga of the Mickelberg brothers, convicted of planning to
rob the Perth Mint in 1982 on the false evidence of a corrupt detective,
Tony Lewandowski. And as in NSW in the 1990s, Western Australia is
discovering that corruption is never isolated to front-line police, with an
inspector confessing to graft. Health Minister Bob Kucera, previously a
senior police officer, was present when Peter Mickelberg was questioned
about the robbery, and his role has now been questioned by Mr Lewandowski.
There is no evidence of any wrongdoing by Mr Kucera, and as with the case
of the officer who died this week, it is another example of the long-term
impact of corruption.
Premier Geoff Gallop appears to understand that constant vigilance is the
only way to eradicate police corruption. He has acted on recommendations
from the royal commission, and announced a permanent corruption and crime
commission to continue its work. As the royal commission shows, the new
body will have a great deal of dirty work to do. END.
A Moloch editorial by a News Corpse AC.
