Complaints against the police
Who to complain to:
Victoria Police Ethical Standards Department
Although the Police Regulation Act 1958 (Vic) gives the Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police the ultimate responsibility for investigating police members and taking disciplinary action, on a day to day basis this is undertaken by the Victoria Police Ethical Standards Department (ESD) via the Assistant Commissioner (Ethical Standards).
ESD is a unit within Victoria Police, which investigates internal and external complaints made about police members. ESD has the power to compel members to make statements about their actions, to investigate the incident by taking witness statements and obtaining other evidence and ultimately, if the allegations are found proven, to recommend disciplinary charges or some other procedure be instituted against the police officer.
The Victoria Police force has an internal disciplinary hearing procedure. The hearing of a disciplinary charge is not open to the public. A complainant is also not represented at the hearing.
The penalties which may be imposed on a police officer who has a complaint against him/her proven depend on the seriousness of the unlawful incident/s giving rise to the charge. The penalty may be a fine, a demotion, a reprimand, an admonishment or dismissal.
In the experience of many activists and progressive lawyers who have made or overseen complaints to ESD, it is rare and infrequent for complaints to be substantiated by ESD and disciplinary charges pursued following a complaint made by the public. There have been many reasons suggested about why this is so, the most common being that police investigating police does not ensure independence or accountability in the investigation process.
Ethical Standards Department
Victoria Police Centre
637 Flinders St
Melbourne VIC 3005
Tel (03) 9247 3374
Fax (03) 9247 3900
http://www.police.vic.gov.au
The Victorian Ombudsman
The Victorian Ombudsman has the power to investigate complaints made by a member of the public. The Ombudsman has wide ranging powers to gather evidence and obtain information relevant to the investigation. The Ombudsman also has the capacity to request assistance and resources in the conduct of an investigation from ESD. (As a consequence of this close relationship with the ESD, the Ombudsman's impartiality has also come into question).
The Ombudsman has also been criticised because of its inability to punish unlawful behaviour of police officers. The Ombudsman only has powers to recommend to the Chief Commissioner that disciplinary charges be laid against individual police members. The Chief Commissioner has no legal obligation to follow the recommendations of the Ombudsman.
The outcome of any investigation must be reported to the Chief Commissioner. It may also be tabled in Parliament. Public reports of the Ombudsman do not reveal the names of complainants or police members. Check out: The Ombudsman's Report into the investigation of police action at the World Economic Forum demonstrations September 2000, which can be downloaded from the Ombudsman's website at www.ombudsman.vic.gov.au (see Publications).
Victorian Ombudsman
22nd Floor, 459 Collins Street, Melbourne Victoria 3000 Tel (03) 9613 6222
(Non-Metropolitan callers only) : 1800 806 314
ombudvic@ombudsman.vic.gov.au
www.ombudsman.vic.gov.au
Case study
Following an extensive investigation by the Victorian Ombudsman in or about 1993-1994 in relation to allegations about the unlawful use of batons and force against protesters at Richmond Secondary College, the Ombudsman made recommendations to the Chief Commissioner recommending disciplinary action against a number of officers. Although disciplinary charges were laid against some officers, they were later dropped in or about 2000 at the direction of the Chief Commissioner and without any substantial public explanation as to why. The then Ombudsman, Dr Barry Perry, was critical of the Chief Commissioner's decision at the time.
Public Incident Resolution
Victoria Police has also established a new system for handling service delivery and performance management of complaints made by the public. Public Incident Resolution is a structure managed by the Assistant Commissioner (Ethical Standards), which investigates minor complaints, such as rude and unsatisfactory behaviour of members. It is not meant to replace the ESD system for investigating substantive allegations of corruption or police misbehaviour. According to the Victoria Police Manual, the investigation of such complaints is supposed to occur quickly within a 721 day time period. Options for resolution can include meetings between the aggrieved complainant and police member as well as the issuing of admonishment notices to members for minor breaches of discipline.
Freedom of Information and police complaints
While Victoria Police are subject to Freedom of Information (FOI) laws, which allow complainants to gain access to documents relating to any investigation into a complaint, the Victorian Ombudsman is not.
You should consider when making a complaint whether you will want access to the documents obtained by the Ombudsman at a later date.
Federal Police
For complaints about the Australian Federal Police (AFP) you can complain by letter, telephone, fax, in person or online to:
Again, it is a good idea to talk to your lawyer or local Community Legal Centre first before you make a complaint.
You have the right to complain about the conduct or actions of individual AFP members.
Your complaint may concern:
- action taken by an AFP officer that involves discourtesy, rudeness or abruptness to you;
- action that arises out of a misunderstanding of the law, of the policy or procedures of the AFP;
- serious ill-treatment by an AFP officer; or
- assault by an AFP officer.
You should first make your complaint to the AFP, whether the complaint involves allegations of minor or serious misconduct. The complaint will either be dealt with by AFP's Workplace Resolution Program through a conciliation process, or the AFP Internal Investigations Division. This process is monitored by the Ombudsman's Office.
In every case, a report detailing the actions taken by Internal Investigations must be forwarded to the Ombudsman's office for independent scrutiny. If the Ombudsman is not satisfied with the AFP's investigation of your complaint, he or she can ask the AFP to reconsider its recommendations, require Internal Investigations to investigate further, or conduct his or her own investigation.
While you are entitled to complain to the Ombudsman at any time, he or she will usually only intervene in the matter if you have already raised the complaint with the AFP directly. If you are being detained, you have the right to be provided with facilities to make a complaint to the Ombudsman.
If you have a grievance, you should make the complaint as soon as possible, within one year of the incident.
If you have been injured?
If you intend to make a complaint about police mistreatment, try to write down everything that happened to you as soon as possible. Include the names of the police officers involved, the time and date of the incident and what actually happened.
- see a doctor immediately, and ensure that they provide you with a written medical report describing your injuries the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine has specifically trained doctors who can provide expert medical opinions, and free examinations by these specialist doctors will be arranged if you complain promptly;
- get someone to photograph any injuries;
- write down as much information as you can about the person or people who injured you including their name, rank and police station;
- write down the name of the last person to see you before you were injured and the first person to see you afterwards and get their contact details;
- contact the Legal Support Team or lawyer who will help you make a formal complaint. A community legal centre , Victoria Legal Aid or a progressive private lawyer can also help you tomake and lodge a complaint.
Koori Community
The Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS) offers special assistance to Koori people who want to make a complaint about the police. Contact VALS on 9419 3888 to get information, support and free legal advice about your options.
If you are in custody
Persons in custody or patients in mental institutions may write confidentially direct to the Ombudsman in sealed envelopes. Prison regulations say that these letters will not be read. Replies from the Ombudsman are in sealed envelopes which you must open personally.
The Australian Human Rights Register
If you are mistreated by state or federal police and believe that your civil rights have been violated then you can submit a report to the Human Rights Register. This puts your report on the public record and allows for greater public scrutiny of the actions of police.
The Human Rights Register, facilitated by the Catholic Commission for Justice, Development & Peace, Melbourne, is an annual non-government organisation audit of human rights developments.
The Register records individual reports and accounts of developments and violations and analyses them in the light of the human rights conventions that Australia has ratified. It focuses on individual instances within Australia and contains reports from community legal centres, non-government organisations and the national media.
The Human Rights Register can be found at:
www.melbourne.catholic.org.au/ccjdp/humanrightsregister.htm
Complaints against security guards
All security guards and bouncers are licensed by the Private Agents Registry, which is administered by the Victoria Police and regulated by the Private Agents Act 1966 (Vic). All security guards are required to wear a large, visible number as identification. Take note of this number and the company they are with.
The registry investigates complaints about security guards, crowd controllers or security companies. If the registry finds that the guard has behaved in an unfair, dishonest or discreditable way, they can cancel or suspend their licence.
Send your complaint to: Private Agents Registry, PO Box 415, Melbourne 3005 or phone 9247 3737.
You can also complain to:
- local police,
- the security firm who employs the guard,
- the Ombudsman, 9613 6222 or 1800 806 314 (country callers).
- the relevant industry association. Security companies have a code of practice they must follow. Find out which association the company belongs to and make a complaint. The Australian Security Industry Association covers most companies. Phone them to check if the company is a member (02) 9906 4780.
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