Queensland police accused of using illegal search warrants

[grace]

Queensland police accused of using illegal search warrants

October 20, 2008

The Australian

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story...4-26103,00.html

 

QUEENSLAND police officers have been accused of regularly using illegal search warrants to raid the homes of innocent people.

 

Channel 7 tonight aired the claims of whistleblower detectives who said officers on the Gold Coast regularly made up evidence to obtain warrants.

 

The subsequent raids were used to further the careers of senior management, Seven said.

 

The detectives, who asked for their identities to remain secret, also claimed corruption watchdog the Crime and Misconduct Commission had failed to investigate numerous complaints about the alleged illegally obtained warrants.

 

One detective told Seven the network illegal warrants had been used in hundreds of raids on the Gold Coast in the last five years.

 

"This is a major corruption scandal," he told Seven News.

 

"Specific evidence is required for a search warrant application but on many occasions on the Gold Coast ... that information is simply made up."

 

He said officers routinely drove around public carparks to pick up random licence plate numbers to use in search warrant applications.

 

"It is done for the purpose of arrest figures and obtaining numbers of search warrants," he said.

 

Another officer accused senior management of organising "raid days" where warrant applications were "dumped" on officers' desks.

 

"If you didn't have details for 25 warrants then you had to make up addresses and grounds for warrants," he told Seven.

 

"It is a rats' nest. Really good police offices are being made to act illegally."

 

He said police used justices of the peace, who would not read the grounds before signing, to gain the warrants.

 

A third officer, a former Gold Coast detective, told the network that the "dodgy" warrants were generated to get "kill figures up".

 

"The grounds of the warrants would not be correct but basically everyone knew you had to meet monthly total of raids and warrants or you would never get a detective's appointment," he said.

 

"You had to get seven arrests a month to justify yourself. We would have raid days at least once a month were you would have to have warrants.

 

"Everyone did it. Everyone knew it was wrong but everyone knew you had to get the figures up," he said.

 

The network claimed the allegations had been referred to the Police Ethical Standards Command 18 months ago but the investigation by police was still unfinished.

[entheofarm]

oh shit sorry grace

 

post 101

 

look at me look at me

[Major Overgrow]

I somehow doubt that Queensland is the only place where this sort of illegal police crap is happening.

Quota's should be banned as they promote unethical & illegal behaviour in police officers,

resulting in the innocent being targeted & harrassed unlawfully.

[shroomyshroom]

since when was this "NEW" news

 

i would dare to say the majority of warrants issued are done so under false pretenses

[Indycar]

This is nothing new in Queensland, it's been going on for as long as i can remember. First thing i usually do when i've been presented with a warrant in the past. Is flip over onto the last page 'n see who signed off on it (meant to be a judge), and that the name of the officer on the warrant matches that of the officer leading the search.

 

That won't neessesarly tell you that it's a fudged search warrant, it's more of a case of checking that the bugga's have done their paper work properly. If you spot something that doesn't add up, ask em to remove themselves from the property, until your lawyer arrives. Then ring your lawyer and go from there.

 

[Major Overgrow]

Good Advice.

I'm never going to keep anything at home, just in case (as soon as these seeds are big enough to move elsewhere).

[entheofarm]

This is nothing new in Queensland, it's been going on for as long as i can remember. First thing i usually do when i've been presented with a warrant in the past. Is flip over onto the last page 'n see who signed off on it (meant to be a judge), and that the name of the officer on the warrant matches that of the officer leading the search.

 

That won't neessesarly tell you that it's a fudged search warrant, it's more of a case of checking that the bugga's have done their paper work properly. If you spot something that doesn't add up, ask em to remove themselves from the property, until your lawyer arrives. Then ring your lawyer and go from there.

 

 

 

I woud have followed your advice if my hands had not been cuffed behind my back, don't flush the toilet as they come crashing through the door, they get a bit upset.

[Indycar]

Bumma entheofarm

 

Can't say i've been raided with argo involved, all have been reasonably peaceful and met them before entering the dwelling.

[shroomyshroom]

I woud have followed your advice if my hands had not been cuffed behind my back, don't flush the toilet as they come crashing through the door, they get a bit upset.

 

 

hehehehe been there... dont try flush mobiles either they just dont go down

[entheofarm]

The first time I had ever been handcuffed, cause I flushed the toilet hahahaha they still found some though

 

Pity it wasn't a drop loo then I could have laughed my arse off while they tried to get evidence.