The Authority oversaw a Police investigation after an officer inappropriately accessed the Police database while off-duty and viewed the dossier of a person known to Police for non-work-related reasons.
Police undertook an employment investigation which involved an audit of the officer’s use of the Police database and identified approximately 1,700 queries conducted by the officer between March 2023 to October 2024 while off-duty. The investigation found that, except for a check that was probably work-related, the officer did not have a work-related reason for any of these off-duty queries and as such, found their actions breached Police policy and the Police Code of Conduct. The officer acknowledged their use of the Police database was wrong, explaining they completed the checks for their own information as they mistakenly believed it would make them a ‘good cop’.
Police undertook an employment process to address the breaches identified.
While the Authority agrees with the outcome of the investigation undertaken by Police, we considered there was sufficient information available to suspect the officer had committed an offence under the Crimes Act by accessing the Police database for non-work-related reasons. Accordingly, the Authority recommended that Police conduct a criminal investigation as well as an employment investigation at the start of their process.
IPCA: 24-24508