Key focus area—Public accountability

The Service demonstrated its public accountability by providing appropriate, accurate and timely information to government and the community through a range of statutory and other accountability obligations, publications and communiqués. These included the 2007-08 Annual Report and Statistical Review, Budget Papers, regular corporate reports, ministerial media statements and the Report on Government Services 2009 which proved Queensland continued to be one of the safest states in Australia to live and which highlighted the excellent performance of police in Queensland.

Investment governance

In order to ensure QPS projects deliver benefits to Queensland Government and the community, the Service developed an Investment Governance Framework. This framework is a governance system for major projects and is based on the whole-ofgovernment project management methodology. It requires major projects to conform to a series of decision points and exception reporting. The QPS Investment Governance Board provides support in strategic project decisions (excluding capital works decisions).

The Auditor-General of Queensland ‘Report to Parliament No.4 for 2009’ commented favourably on the Service’s project management practices noting the value of the Investment Governance Board.

Media and public affairs

The Media and Public Affairs Branch facilitated communication within the Service and the community and has continued to promote the Service’s professional image.

The Branch regularly liaised with media organisations and coordinated the release of information to State, national and international media. Members of the Branch provided strategic advice to the Commissioner and the senior executive on media and public affairs matters. Members also provided assistance to police forward commanders at the scenes of major incidents, and when required, a public affairs officer attended major incidents to manage liaison with the attending media.

Major incidents or issues involving intense media coverage during 2008-09 included flooding in Queensland, end-of-year Schoolies celebrations on the Gold and Sunshine Coasts and Stradbroke Island, and the Christmas and Easter road safety campaigns.

The Media Operations Room continued to provide a single 24x7 contact point for news organisations, with a total of 63 185 phone calls received during 2008-09, which averages to 173 per day.

A joint Queensland Police Service/Media Management Committee was established to provide ongoing liaison between the major media stakeholders and QPS. The group met on two occasions during the year, in August and May, to facilitate two-way communication between the executives of the QPS and media organisations on matters such as media access to Computer Aided Despatch (MatCAD) and other police-media issues.

The Police Bulletin continues to be the mainstay of internal communication within the Service.

Published monthly, the Police Bulletin is distributed across Queensland. The October and April editions of the Police Bulletin are produced in full colour and distributed externally and internally to promote positive and proactive work by the Service. Many articles have subsequently been reproduced by other publications or media outlets.

A film and television policy, incorporating a cost recovery process to better meet the interests of the QPS, is being developed to improve service delivery to the film and television industry.

Community understanding of the Service was enhanced through awareness programs such as the Queensland Police Museum and the Queensland Police Pipes and Drums.

During 2008-09, the Queensland Police Museum welcomed a record 20 000 visitors through its doors, with an average of 1 600 people per month.

The Queensland Pipes and Drums performed at 288 events during 2008-09. These included Police induction parades in Brisbane and Townsville, Anzac Day and National Police Remembrance Day parades, the Queensland Police Spectacular in June 2009 and a tour of Japan.

Key future initiatives

Operation Capri

Shortly after the 2008-09 year drew to a close, a report was released by the CMC regarding Operation Capri, an investigation into allegations of serious misconduct by some police officers. The Commissioner committed the Police Service to a five point plan to ensure the messages in the report are clearly disseminated and understood, including:

• extra copies of the report will be distributed across the State
• a comprehensive ethics-based training package will be delivered to all officers in charge, all supervisors, and all detectives and plain clothes staff throughout the Service
• a review of all existing training and development courses will be undertaken to ensure the issues raised in the report are being suitably addressed
• continued liaison with the CMC to identify further concerns
• reviewing the position with the CMC in 12 months to evaluate the response.

Police drink driving

The Service has developed a new policy on the discipline process and standards of sanctions against police officers convicted of offences of driving under the influence of liquor. The policy, ‘Indicative sanctions for disciplinary matters involving police officers prosecuted for drink driving offences’, will commence on 1 July 2009.

Code of Conduct

The Service is conducting a review of the Code of Conduct with a range of initiatives under consideration designed to give the document a higher profile in the organisation. The review will examine standards relating to public comment and ‘new media’ (i.e. Facebook, YouTube and MySpace social networking sites).

Project Verity

The Service has been working with the CMC to review the Service’s Discipline Policy and Procedures and deliver an improved complaint management system through Project Verity. This project relies upon the devolution of disciplinary responsibility, and new methods for dealing with misconduct and breaches of discipline to deliver fair outcomes in a timelier manner. Project Verity has been trialled in the North Coast Region since September 2007 and Metropolitan North Region since March 2008. A revised training program is being developed to roll-out the new discipline and complaint management system across the State in 2010.

Complaint Management System

Following on from Project Verity, the existing complaint management IT system is currently under review, with the Service examining a proposal to replace the long established Client Service System with a QPRIME solution. This process will continue throughout 2010-2011.

Detective training

A review into detective training within the QPS will be finalised early in the 2009-10 financial year.