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Tasmania Police misconduct inquiry hears a blue code of silence prevents reporting of sexual violence by officers; advocates call for an independent body to investigate claims.
A Tasmanian parliamentary inquiry into the adequacy of Tasmania Police responses to allegations of officer misconduct has heard that a blue code of silence is preventing people from reporting sexual violence perpetrated by police officers. The hearing took place today and featured testimony from family and sexual violence advocates who are calling for an independent body to investigate misconduct claims.
Advocates Detail Barriers to Reporting Police Misconduct
Policy officer Elise Whitmore from Laurel House, a community sexual assault support service, told the inquiry that victim-survivors were concerned about the interconnected relationships that police had with each other, both inside and outside work.
Their concerns were not only that they would not be believed, but that there may be retaliation from police in relation to other aspects of their life, Whitmore said.
Laurel House advocacy manager Kaity Graham said there was a perceived culture of police banding together to protect their own, which Laurel House called a blue code of silence.
When the alleged perpetrator is a police officer, the response must address the power, relationships and conflict of interest that can affect a victim-survivor's confidence in coming forward, Graham said.
Bree Klerck, chief executive officer of the Tasmanian Family and Sexual Violence Alliance (TFSVA), agreed, noting that Tasmania is a small and deeply networked jurisdiction, so it is difficult for Tasmania Police to investigate serious allegations involving its own officers.
Reynolds Case Highlights Systemic Failures
The inquiry also examined the ongoing impacts of the actions of paedophile police officer Paul Reynolds, who died by suicide in 2018 while he was being investigated for multiple child sexual abuse offences but was still given a full police funeral with honour guard in Launceston.
Nicole Asquith, a policy and research officer at TFSVA, said the subsequent review, called the Weiss Report, focused on sexual violence but did not really look at family violence, which is the bigger elephant in the room because across every western jurisdiction, the minimum is 40 per cent of police officers have engaged in family violence.
Alina Thomas, the chief executive of family violence organisation Engender Equality, said it was asked by Tasmania Police to prioritise victims of police officers for its counselling service. However, we do not get any referrals from police even though there was an agreement a few years ago that we would prioritise police perpetrator victim-survivors, she said.
The inquiry heard there should be an independent body outside the police chain of command for victims of police officers to report them. All organisations recommended an independent reporting pathway that does not involve Tasmania Police.
We need an independent body that is guiding and investigating breaches of the code of conduct, of the police manual, and also the criminal code, Thomas said.
She said it may need to be taken off island to a federal body. Laurel House also recommended removing the six-month time frame on reporting a police officer misconduct. I do not think that any made a report within six months, which is a requirement of making a report about police to police, Whitmore said.
Asquith said after 30 years working with police forces, Tasmania Police was one of the best she had encountered. It is capable of taking on critique, reflect on practice, and change behaviours, and do it very well and very quickly because it is such a small organisation, she said.
Tasmania Police Acknowledges Need for Independent Oversight
In its submission to the inquiry, Tasmania Police said it supported effective and independent oversight of serious police misconduct matters.
As an organisation, we recognise that public trust and confidence in policing depends not only on the integrity of individual officers, but also on having effective systems, processes and procedures that ensure misconduct is detected, reported, properly investigated, that appropriate accountability follows, and that organisational learning occurs, it said.
The Paul Reynolds matter exposed significant concerns regarding historical reporting, investigation, escalation and decision-making processes. Tasmania Police accepts that the Reynolds matter has had a profound impact on victim-survivors, the community, and the organisation itself.
Tasmania Police Misconduct Inquiry Blue Code Of Silence Sexual Violence Laurel House Paul Reynolds Independent Oversight
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