[grace]

“Amnesty” for NSW Police Drugs Users

Operation Abelia – Research and investigation into illegal drug use by “some” NSW Police Officers.

Police Integrity Commission website

<http://www.pic.nsw.gov.au/InvestigationReports.aspx>

 

The report consists of 4 volumes - it’s a lot of reading so I have extracted a few sections from volume 1 of the summary report ... still a lot to read

 

A few things to note:

 

1.The meaning of Amnesty:

 

“an act of grace on the part of the state which effectively obliterates some wrong doing.” (The CCH Macquarie Dictionary of Law)

 

2.The word minimise is used consistently throughout the report – not “drug free” or “zero tolerance.”

 

3.Derogatory words such as druggie, junkie, pot head, addict or criminal are not used when referring to police officers who use drugs.

 

4.A minority made comments such as: ‘what I do in private is what I do in private’.

 

5.Recommendation 3. Addressing the welfare of officers

 

By adopting a focus on health and welfare, rather than considering illegal drug use exclusively as a disciplinary matter, and by incorporating drug testing as only one component of a much broader policy which also incorporates education and counselling, the NSW Police Drug and Alcohol Policy is consistent with international best practice in the area.

 

** This policy appears to be consistent with the preamble and other parts of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961 … i.e. drug use is not a criminal offence … it is a health and welfare issue.

 

 

Some Extracts from the Summary Report (Volume 1) - Operation Abelia

 

In September 2005 the Police Integrity Commission released a Report regarding Operation Abelia, being a Report in relation to a matter in which the Commission conducted an investigation into the use of illegal drugs by “some” NSW Police officers.

 

The report provides details of the existence in legislation of an amnesty provision for police officers who use drugs however the rest of the community is dealt with by the criminal justice system by way of police raids, search and seizures, fines, persecution, harassment, prejudice and prison terms.

 

NSW POLICE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES CONSIDERED AS PART OF OPERATION ABELIA

 

At the time the PIC commenced Operation Abelia, NSW Police already had a number

of policies and procedures in place to address the issue of illegal drug use by its officers. For example, NSW Police has a comprehensive Drug and Alcohol Policy which provides:

 

• an ‘amnesty’ for officers who voluntarily disclose and seek help for dependency problems

• professional support, at the organisation’s expense, for officers experiencing dependency problems

• information on the support services available to officers and their families

• alcohol and other drug testing under three different circumstances:

- following a shooting or a high speed pursuit resulting in a death or serious injury, or a death in custody (referred to as ‘mandatory drug testing’)

- when there is reason to suspect that an officer may be using illegal drugs (referred to as ‘targeted drug testing’), and

- a broader-based form of drug testing (referred to as ‘random drug testing’).

 

As part of Operation Abelia, the PIC examined a range of NSW Police policies, procedures and practices to assess how useful they are in minimising illegal drug use by officers.

 

In its review, the PIC considered each of the following:

 

• self-reporting illegal drug use under the amnesty provision• targeted drug testing

• random drug testing

• mandatory (or critical incident) drug testing

• the Code of Conduct and Ethics

• the Code of behaviour (which was established as part of the Police

Regulation 2000 specifically in regard to the consumption of alcohol and

the use of prohibited drugs)

• recruitment procedures

• education, training and communication

• supervision and support for officers, and

• procedures that apply to managing officers who have been found to use prohibited drugs.

 

The PIC chose to examine these policies, procedures and practices based on their relevance to illegal drug use and/or their potential to minimise illegal drug use by NSW Police officers. Some of these, like the components of the Drug and Alcohol Policy, are initiatives that specifically focus on minimising alcohol abuse and illegal drug use.

 

Others, such as recruitment and training, are practices that have the potential to assist in minimising illegal drug use.

 

The PIC observed that the NSW Police Drug and Alcohol Policy has been, and continues to be, used as a model by other law enforcement agencies.

 

Notwithstanding this, the information collected in Operation Abelia suggests that there is scope for strengthening the NSW Police approach to minimising illegal drug use by its officers.

 

The Purpose of Abelia

 

In line with its principal function that includes preventing police misconduct, the PIC has sought to develop a broad-based, integrated approach to minimising officer illegal drug use. The PIC sought to determine what further preventative actions NSW Police could take, in addition to its current efforts, to minimise future illegal drug use by its officers.

 

1.OPERATION ICEMINT

 

From the evidence obtained, the PIC formed the opinion that these three former officers had each engaged in misconduct during their service as NSW Police officers. This misconduct involved the use and supply of prohibited drugs by Wilson and Hill, and the use of prohibited drugs by Tyler.

 

In addition, all three failed to act on their knowledge of a civilian’s status as a supplier of prohibited drugs. All three tendered their resignations from NSW Police prior to giving evidence in November 2003. It is not considered that the evidence against the former officers forms a sufficient basis for prosecution and accordingly the PIC has recommended no further action be taken against them.

 

2. OPERATION NORANDRA

 

Wardle resigned from NSW Police in February 2004. He has already been prosecuted in respect of the supply of prohibited drugs. AB1 and Potter were dismissed from NSW Police in April and September 2004 respectively. The PIC has recommended no further action against them. Cantarakis was convicted of drug possession and drug supply and sentenced on 3 June 2005 to a term of imprisonment.

 

WHAT THE PIC HAS FOUND OUT ABOUT ILLEGAL DRUG USE BY NSW POLICE OFFICERS

 

1. Officers have admitted using a wide range of illegal drugs

Officers have admitted using amphetamines, cannabis, cocaine, ecstasy, heroin, ketamine, and non-prescribed steroids. The specific combination of types of drugs used has varied from officer to officer. The use of multiple types of illegal drugs in different combinations makes it difficult to predict the nature and extent of any effects of ingesting these drugs.

 

2. Officers have given quite different accounts of their reasons for using illegal drugs

While many of the officers and former officers who gave evidence to the PIC said that their work brought them into contact with prohibited drugs, most did not believe that their policing duties put them at any higher risk of illegal drug use than if they had been doing other work.

 

Some officers mentioned stress, either at work or in their personal lives, or just simply ‘lifestyle’ choices as reasons why they used illegal drugs. Several officers mentioned a combination of reasons for their illegal drug use. For example, a number of officers who spoke about family or personal stress also admitted that they enjoyed using drugs socially.

 

One officer said that he used cannabis to help him cope with personal stress rather than turning to alcohol because his father had been an alcoholic. Some examples are provided below to illustrate the diversity in officers’ accounts of how their drug use commenced.

 

3. Officers who use illegal drugs are not readily identifiable based on their demographic characteristics Illegal drug use is not confined to any one demographic subgroup of officers. During Operation Abelia, the illegal drug use of both male and female officers came to notice.

 

Officer’s age at the time of detection or admission of illegal drug use ranged from 20 years to 48 years. The ranks held by officers who were detected as having used drugs ranged from probationary constable to sergeant. It is also clear that illegal drug use by police is not confined to officers working in metropolitan areas. In order to effectively minimise illegal drug use, it is important that education, detection and other strategies are not solely targeted at younger officers working in metropolitan areas.

 

If NSW Police were to do this, such an approach would miss a variety of officers from other demographic backgrounds who may be using illegal drugs. Strategies to minimise illegal drug use need to reach all officers in order to be effective.

 

6. Much of the illegal drug use that came to notice as part of Operation Abelia occurred when officers were socialising with friends and relatives

 

Despite the diverse accounts that officers and former officers provided of the reasons for their drug use, it is clear that much of the illegal drug use that came to notice as part of Operation Abelia occurred when officers were socialising with friends and relatives.

 

7. Some officers who used illegal drugs believed that other officers with whom they worked would not be aware of their drug use. Some officers said they took steps to hide their illegal drug use, particularly from other police officers. Strategies officers and former officers said they used to avoid detection include:

 

• limiting their illegal drug use to when they were alone or with trusted friends

• not discussing their drug use with other officers

• timing their drug use, that is, limiting their drug use to the beginning of a period of days off (to avoid returning a positive drug test if tested immediately after returning to work)

• taking sick leave.

 

8. Officers said that they obtained their illegal drugs from friends, relatives and acquaintances

 

Officers reported that they obtained their illegal drugs from similar sources to other community members who use illegal drugs. The majority of officers who gave evidence during Operation Abelia said that they obtained their drugs from a broad range of low level suppliers: friends, relatives and acquaintances. The types of sources used seemed similar for both cannabis and for stimulants such as amphetamine, cocaine and ecstasy.

 

9. Some officers who use illegal drugs engage in additional forms of associated misconduct

 

Engaging in any illegal behaviour such as the use of illegal drugs, by and of itself, represents a conflict for all police officers. The act of obtaining illegal drugs also places officers in a position where they are open to being compromised.

 

In addition to the use and acquisition of illegal drugs, evidence obtained during Operation Abelia revealed examples of how some officers who used illegal drugs were engaged in other forms of misconduct, which at times emanated from or was related to their illegal drug use. The nature of the misconduct varied among officers and included:

 

• turning a ‘blind eye’ to illegal drug use by others

• supplying illegal drugs to friends

• turning a ‘blind eye’ to drug suppliers

• more actively attempting to assist a drug supplier

• supplying drugs for monetary gain, and

• stealing drugs or money for profit.

 

10. Most officers who use illegal drugs say that they know it is not appropriate for police officers to use prohibited drugs

 

While its illegality should make it obvious that the use of prohibited drugs is unacceptable for all officers, this is not necessarily the case. The majority of those officers and former officers who had admitted using illegal drugs told the PIC that they knew it was not appropriate for officers to use prohibited drugs. “However, not all of those who used illegal drugs considered that such personal drug use presented a conflict with their role as an officer.

 

A minority made comments such as: ‘what I do in private is what I do in private’. Some of the officers who admitted using illegal drugs whilst serving with NSW Police said that they did not believe that this drug use interfered with their work or their ability to perform their duties.”

 

Even where officers did acknowledge a conflict between their personal drug use and their job, neither this conflict nor the knowledge that they should keep their drug use hidden from other officers was sufficient to stop such behaviour.

 

11. Officers were divided in their opinions about whether it is possible for an officer to use illegal drugs occasionally or regularly and still be ‘a good cop’

 

… officers who participated in the focus groups were divided in their opinions when they were asked whether it was possible for an officer to use drugs occasionally or regularly and to still be ‘a good cop who does the job well’. It appears that some officers view drug use by officers as a ‘grey’ rather than a ‘black and white’ issue.

 

RECOMMENDATIONS TO STRENGTHEN NSW POLICE CAPACITY TO MINIMISE ILLEGAL DRUG USE BY OFFICERS

 

1. Providing clear messages early and reinforcing them in different ways

 

Some officers were also unaware that officers are encouraged to voluntarily disclose their drug use under an amnesty provision.

 

Communicating how illegal drug use can compromise an officer’s position and how it can compromise NSW Police

 

The PIC agrees with NSW Police that, in principle, officers should not need to be told that it is inappropriate for them to engage in illegal behaviour such as the use of illegal drugs. However, some officers who gave evidence in Operation Abelia did not consider their illegal drug use to be a problem for them. These officers said that they did not consider that they had an addiction. Some referred to their illegal drug use as a social activity they engaged in when off duty. Some officers said that they did not believe that their illegal drug use interfered with their work or affected their ability to perform their duties.

 

Hence the PIC has recommended that NSW Police develops and implements strategies to communicate to officers how such drug use can compromise their position and compromise NSW Police, even if the illegal drug use is confined to when they are off duty.

 

3. Addressing the welfare of officers

 

By adopting a focus on health and welfare, rather than considering illegal drug use exclusively as a disciplinary matter, and by incorporating drug testing as only one component of a much broader policy which also incorporates education and counselling, the NSW Police Drug and Alcohol Policy is consistent with international best practice in the area.

 

Provision of support to those who voluntarily disclose their illegal drug use

 

The PIC has recommended that NSW Police continues to arrange assistance in the form of rehabilitation, counselling and/or relapse prevention for officers who come forward and voluntarily disclose their illegal drug use.

 

The PIC has also recommended that NSW Police continues to promote awareness of the nature and availability of the amnesty provision as well as other forms of assistance or rehabilitative options available to officers who have used illegal drugs.

 

In addition, the PIC has recommended that NSW Police seeks an amendment to the current legislation and/or regulations so that, in cases where an officer’s illegal drug use has come to notice only through the officer’s own admissions, commanders, supervisors and fellow officers are able to refer officers to the amnesty without otherwise having to report this drug use.

 

Increasing the perceived risk of being caught by increasing the number of random drug tests conducted NSW Police introduced random drug testing in September 2001. It currently tests between 500 and 600 (or 3% to 4%) of its 15 000 officers each year.

 

 

5. Detecting illegal drug use that has occurred

Illegal drug use by officers is not easy to detect. Some officers take steps to hide their illegal drug use, particularly from other police. Officers and former officers who admitted their illegal drug use to the PIC did not believe that other officers with whom they worked were aware that they had been using illegal drugs. NSW Police detects illegal drug use by its officers through targeted drug tests and other investigative techniques as well as by encouraging officers to voluntarily disclose their drug use under a provision known as ‘amnesty’.

 

Encouraging officers to voluntarily disclose their illegal drug use

Although the number who has come forward to voluntarily disclose their drug use under the amnesty (24 officers) is small, the officers who have come forward have come from a cross-section of ages, duty types and ranks within NSW Police. Without the amnesty provision, the illegal drug use of these officers may not have come to notice and may have continued.

 

The PIC considers that further encouraging officers to disclose their personal drug use is another way of assisting NSW Police to detect illegal drug use amongst its officers.

 

In order to increase voluntary disclosure of illegal drug use, the PIC has recommended that NSW Police promotes officer and commander awareness of the nature and availability of the amnesty provision including using anonymous case studies of how the amnesty has assisted officers in the past.

 

EXTRACTS FROM LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS

 

Self-reporting illegal drug use

SR 1 The PIC recommends that NSW Police continues to arrange assistance in the form of rehabilitation, counselling and/or relapse prevention for officers who come forward for help concerning their illegal drug use.

 

As is currently the case, no adverse action should be initiated as a result of personal admissions of past illegal drug use made to NSW Police drug and alcohol counsellors, providing that the officer accessing amnesty complies with the counselling, drug testing and/or any other conditions of the amnesty.

 

 

SR 3 The PIC recommends that NSW Police promotes officer and commander awareness of the nature and availability of the amnesty provision by publicising the assistance broadly, regularly and using a variety of strategies. The information provided should include:

 

a. the existence of this assistance

b. how it works, including in what ways the assistance is kept confidential, the circumstances under which any information would be disseminated and to whom it could be disseminated

c. the benefits of this assistance

d. other rehabilitation options, and

e. anonymous case studies of how those who have come forward and admitted their prior drug use under the amnesty have been assisted in the past.

 

SR 4 The PIC recommends that NSW Police enlists the help of the officers who come forward under the amnesty for their illegal drug use, by collecting information from these officers about:

 

a. their accounts of the circumstances that led to their drug use, so the organisation can better understand the dynamics of what leads some officers to use illegal drugs, and

b. their suggestions of what, if anything, NSW Police could do to help other officers facing similar situations.

 

SR 7 The PIC recommends that NSW Police seeks the necessary amendments to the current legislation and/or regulations (in particular, clause 20 of the Police Regulation) so that, in cases where an officer’s illegal drug use has come to notice only through the officer’s own admissions, commanders, supervisors and fellow officers are able to refer officers to the amnesty without otherwise having to report their past drug use.

[Frazz]

LMFAO NSW always have and still do have the most corrupt police in this country and that has not changed since 1779 ...

 

Dont worry about the smokers in police force they are prolly some of the good ones, clean out the murderers, dealers and corrupt crimminals who manage and 'green light' the speed dealers in the Force first ... yea but that is 50% of police force in NSW

 

Yea and what about the undercover pig who come into dealers house acting like a scorer who sits down and smokes weed with you and sets up a big buy then a week alter they bust the person? and it does happen in NSW i have witnessed it too ... no shit

 

 

 

Interesting piece though grace

[grace]

Yea and what about the undercover pig who come into dealers house acting like a scorer who sits down and smokes weed with you and sets up a big buy then a week alter they bust the person? and it does happen in NSW i have witnessed it too ... no shit

 

 

Interesting piece though grace

 

Thanks Frazz ...

 

Maybe that's what the tokin cops do as part of the amnesty program ... smoke with dealers then some straight cop comes in to do the bust later.

 

[Frazz]

yep grace it was in a rural town of 30,000 or so pple .. new face in town, in the pubs, wanting to score , knew all the right things to say, young and sharp but easygoing and easy to like .. ended up at one of the towns local part-time sellers Harry, only to be sent away ..

persistence won him a cuppa coffe next day when he returned .. catching harry completely asleep as it were , lulled into a false sense of security in his own hometown and having a reputation as crazy bastard by the locals and with good reason he was in the nuthouse when he was a younger man, was over a woman but, then he came good after a while .. a married man now with 10 children yet still smoking and doing the odd deal if the price was right sorta thing

so here is this smooth copper operator, skilled in psycholocical assesment and manipulation of of other pple he was clever at decieving people .. he was from the big smoke ..

anyways turns out when i rocked up at harrys pre-arranged to give him a hand with some mechanical work cause harry was a natural-born mechanic he knew so much bout engines and physics, i learnt alot from him and got a free smoke too ...so here's harry and 'Trevor' the narc drinking coffee and pulling cones!, well course i joined in, Trevor was pulling them too .. wanted to score an oz so he could shout us ... yea right , well i did think twice about Trevor but discounted it almost straight away, i didnt pick him, fact is no one did ..

after bout a week he takes off on some deal somewhere else leaves town .. carries on a bit like he is a buyer for some market elsewhere ..

he did come back though and thats when he must have convinced harry to call up 5 lb of weed and ten oz of speed, harry saw only dollars, what a cut he could take and make a 'killing' on this buyer and deal, harry said he had word from some biker crowd in Melb. that this guy was the real deal .. all secondhand talk mind you..

so after a lot of stuffing around, like for days an days the deal is set to go off at the local airport, at the time a plane is coming in so ppl are coming and going ... and sure enuf harry's partner in crime turns up with the goods .. cops spring from everywhere round the cars, guns too, the bust is on!!..

by time the cops have it all under control and about to take harry & co. away in cuffs and the filthy Trevor smiles at harry and says 'better luck next time mate' with a big grin on his face .. he actually got off on the big bust .. he was last seen boarding that very plane back to the big smoke to melt back into another undercover police operation to lure and betray ppl ..

town was very dry for about a year after that and harry went away to the big house for 5 long years ..

but that's another story ..

 

[shroomyshroom]

yep grace it was in a rural town of 30,000 or so pple .. new face in town, in the pubs, wanting to score , knew all the right things to say, young and sharp but easygoing and easy to like .. ended up at one of the towns local part-time sellers Harry, only to be sent away ..

persistence won him a cuppa coffe next day when he returned .. catching harry completely asleep as it were , lulled into a false sense of security in his own hometown and having a reputation as crazy bastard by the locals and with good reason he was in the nuthouse when he was a younger man, was over a woman but, then he came good after a while .. a married man now with 10 children yet still smoking and doing the odd deal if the price was right sorta thing

so here is this smooth copper operator, skilled in psycholocical assesment and manipulation of of other pple he was clever at decieving people .. he was from the big smoke ..

anyways turns out when i rocked up at harrys pre-arranged to give him a hand with some mechanical work cause harry was a natural-born mechanic he knew so much bout engines and physics, i learnt alot from him and got a free smoke too ...so here's harry and 'Trevor' the narc drinking coffee and pulling cones!, well course i joined in, Trevor was pulling them too .. wanted to score an oz so he could shout us ... yea right , well i did think twice about Trevor but discounted it almost straight away, i didnt pick him, fact is no one did ..

after bout a week he takes off on some deal somewhere else leaves town .. carries on a bit like he is a buyer for some market elsewhere ..

he did come back though and thats when he must have convinced harry to call up 5 lb of weed and ten oz of speed, harry saw only dollars, what a cut he could take and make a 'killing' on this buyer and deal, harry said he had word from some biker crowd in Melb. that this guy was the real deal .. all secondhand talk mind you..

so after a lot of stuffing around, like for days an days the deal is set to go off at the local airport, at the time a plane is coming in so ppl are coming and going ... and sure enuf harry's partner in crime turns up with the goods .. cops spring from everywhere round the cars, guns too, the bust is on!!..

by time the cops have it all under control and about to take harry & co. away in cuffs and the filthy Trevor smiles at harry and says 'better luck next time mate' with a big grin on his face .. he actually got off on the big bust .. he was last seen boarding that very plane back to the big smoke to melt back into another undercover police operation to lure and betray ppl ..

town was very dry for about a year after that and harry went away to the big house for 5 long years ..

but that's another story ..

 

 

 

It all comes down to the old schoool way of thinking when your in that type of game.... "dont trust anyone but your self... and if you have to.... let it only be a mate that you have grown up with your whole life with no long peroids of no contact in between"

 

the sad truth of it is.... do anything for long enough and will enventualy get caught

[grace]

harry went away to the big house for 5 long years ..

but that's another story ..

 

 

Sorry to hear about your mate frazz ...

Jailing people for pot is a crime

I hope your mate is doing good now and has put it all behind him .... especially with 10 kids depending on him

Have a few stories myself but will leave that for another time ....

[Bazza]

that fucken sux man

and they say entrapment is illegal in this country

filthy bastards

[grace]

LMFAO NSW always have and still do have the most corrupt police in this country and that has not changed since 1779 ...

 

Dont worry about the smokers in police force they are prolly some of the good ones, clean out the murderers, dealers and corrupt crimminals who manage and 'green light' the speed dealers in the Force first ... yea but that is 50% of police force in NSW

 

Yea and what about the undercover pig who come into dealers house acting like a scorer who sits down and smokes weed with you and sets up a big buy then a week alter they bust the person? and it does happen in NSW i have witnessed it too ... no shit

 

 

 

Interesting piece though grace

 

Thanks frazzle.