Operation Capri Report

Commissioner's Foreword

The matters referred to in this report first started to come to light in 2005. From there the investigation ultimately extended to three areas, Rockhampton, Cleveland and the armed hold up squad. Subsequently the Crime and Misconduct Commission have produced this public report concerning those matters.

Throughout the Crime and Misconduct Commission’s investigation the Queensland Police Service has fully supported the CMC in terms of investigation assistance, inquiries and information.

It is well recognised that at this point in our history we are 20 years on from the release of the Fitzgerald report in July 1989.

The Queensland Police Service and the broader environment in Queensland are very different today. These matters would most likely not even have been identified in the pre Fitzgerald era.

Some 25 officers were implicated. Three currently face criminal charges. Several others have narrowly avoided criminal charges. 11 who were facing internal disciplinary hearings resigned before those hearings were finalised. Others with a lesser involvement have been dealt with through the Services’ internal disciplinary process. Careers have been lost and lives ruined.

In my view it appears a sad fact that most of these officers started out with the intention of solving or preventing serious crimes. After that policies and procedures were not properly followed and strategies used were not sound. Later rather than admit what had occurred there were disingenuous responses and false statements, accompanied in some cases, by attempts to fabricate cover up accounts which made a bad situation worse. Police must work within the framework of lawful procedures not outside or around them.

As a consequence of the investigation and its findings, the Service made operational and policy changes associated with managing external financial resources and detailed instruction, guidelines and audit requirements regarding the appropriate and professional management of human sources, otherwise known as informants.

The training curriculum within the Detective Training Program was extensively reviewed and enhanced. Revised procedures were also implemented in Police Regions throughout Queensland to enhance accountability and to raise approval levels for prisoner removal from correctional facilities.

In a utopian world every police officer in the Queensland Police Service would be perfect. That is not the reality however either in the Queensland Police Service or in any other police department.

What is important is that the vast majority of police in Queensland are honest, that systems and the organisational will exist to identify and effectively deal with serious misbehaviour when it occurs and that there is constant vigilance in that regard. I believe that in Queensland today that all of that is a reality."

R Atkinson
Commissioner

Further Information on Operation Capri

For information on action taken to date by the Queensland Police Service, download the attached PDF document.
Operation Capri - QPS Action taken ( 56.59K )

To obtain the joint media release, navigate to the Queensland Government website www.qld.gov.au and search Cabinet media Statements.