Victoria Police Corruption And The Ceja Task Force

Introduction

Drug use and the abuse of drugs is rampant in the society we live in. Drug abuse has effects at both a personal, national and global level. When police become involved in the creation and distribution of drugs it corrodes the confidence that the community has in the police and the belief that they will protect and serve. Police corruption is a problem that affects everybody, regardless of status and whether they are civilians or law enforcement officers. A prevalent example of this is the drug corruption that occurred in the Victoria Police force, leading to the creation of the Ceja Task Force. Police corruption as it relates to drugs is a topic of interest that has been receiving a great deal of attention in the media and by citizens.

The first step to guiding society towards a different outlook on drugs begins with the police. In exploring drugs and corruption, this paper will discuss the issues of drugs, and drug-related corruption among police and the effects of corruption. It will further talk about drug prohibition, harm reduction, and police culture. Finally, some recommendations will be suggested to assist in the maintenance of drugs and corruption in the police force.
Background
A notorious case in Australia that highlights the problems associated with police corruption in relation to drugs is the involvement of Victoria Police in drug trafficking and theft. The Ceja Task Force was created for the purposes of finding out how many members from Victoria Police were involved in the illegal distribution of drugs, and ultimately, who they were. Members of Victoria Police’s Drug Squad and the Drug Squad’s Chemical Diversion Desk worked together in the purchase and distribution of illicit drugs on the streets of Victoria. Members who worked in the Drug Squad’s Chemical Diversion Desk bought legal amounts of drugs and chemicals needed to create amphetamines. This was passed to police who then sold the purchased products. Police members made unauthorised purchases from chemical companies under the pretext that it was for police business. Having bought these for wholesale prices, they were able to sell the products for much higher on the streets and earn significant personal financial gain. While the Ceja Task Force was able to make a significant number of arrests, large quantities of the drugs and precursor chemicals were never recovered. This increased the availability of illicit drugs on Victorian streets due to corrupt members of Victoria Police. A situation like this however, was only able to happen due to the flawed practices and procedures that were implemented. This included lack of supervision, which led to little or no accountability of police members, and the lack of proper policies and procedures for dealing with the drugs and managing informers. An environment such as this is ideal for corrupt members to become exploited by their greed.
Drug prohibition, while believed to be a hindrance, can be a subsidy for corruption. Drug prohibition aims to stop the use of drugs and morally improve the drug user, however, often does the opposite. Drug prohibition allows police officers to take into custody drugs they come in contact with. This leads to the decrease of particular drugs on the streets, which in turn increases their value. This has further implications as it can lead ethical dilemmas by police. As police officers are in possession of a large amount of both licit and illicit drugs, corrupt members of the police are very likely to seize the opportunity, and sell illicit drugs on the streets for their own personal benefit. This means that rather than drugs and chemicals being suppressed by police, police officers are likely to give in to temptation and join in the drug trade. When police become involved in the drug trade, it increases the amount of organised crime, drug related crime, the amount of people imprisoned, and the overall amount of drugs on the street. The failure of drug prohibition is inevitable as corrupt officers are unlikely to turn away from the temptation of easy money.
While police culture has the ability to be positive through continued support from other officers, it can be negative when corruption is supported or ignored.

Police culture is characterised by a code of silence, unquestioned loyalty to fellow officers, and cynicism about the criminal justice system. Such characteristics do not only promote police corruption but also impede the controlling and detection of corrupt police. A code of silence comes with grave consequences for violation. This is evident when members of the Ceja Task Force were placed in fitting roles with officers who worked in Victoria Police. Breaking the code of silence leads to harassment and victimisation. Members of Ceja who were placed in Victoria Police witnessed this due to their previous work investigating corrupt police. Interrelated with the code of silence, is loyalty between officers above everything else. As officers hold such loyalty to each other it causes corrupt officers to continue doing as they please, and potentially make other officers corrupt with no evident consequences. This is clear in the Ceja report as the Drug Squad maintained loyal to one another through the corrupt process of purchasing and distributing illicit drugs. The last aspect of police culture that will be discussed is police cynicism or disillusionment about their jobs, the criminal justice system, and public support. This causes police officers to believe all people are bad. In turn, this leads to police defying the

rules to achieve “justice” as they believe the accused is guilty. These aspects of police culture primarily facilitate corruption by setting the standard that there is nothing above loyalty between officers. This facilitates corruption due to the fact that officers are unlikely to report or stop serious cases of corruption.
Recommendations
There has been a growing fascination into drug related police corruption in Australia.

As many other countries have dealt with the issue, many of the recommendations offered for implementation in Australia have been tested and analysed. One of the most prominent issues discussed in the Purton review is the management of property and exhibits. The recommendation put forward was to search rooms one at a time with the occupier of the premises present. It was also recommended that police should videotape searches. This would ensure that no cash, drugs, or personal items are stolen or planted during raids. Thereby, preventing opportunistic and corrupt behaviour. The recommendation also takes into consideration that videotaped searches are not always appropriate and therefore, cannot always be done. However, searching rooms one at a time would ensure a clean, thorough search of the premises. This recommendation is easy to fulfil and ensures that no corrupt or suspicious behaviour occurs. This, in turn, means that police are doing their jobs with no bias or perceived guilt and will decrease the amount of wrongful convictions that

occur.
Another recommendation is greater consideration and training in relation to the selection, vetting and training of drug law enforcement. Working in the drug division of law enforcement means that individuals will have ample opportunities to commit crimes such as theft and drug trafficking. Due to the amount of direct contact drug officers have with dealers on the streets, it is likely that after reasonable time they may become corrupt. If undercover drug officers are selected without the correct personality, commitment or personal strength, they are at risk of permanently adopting the role they have been given. The contact all drug officers have with drug dealers on streets can however be monitored and recorded by trained supervisors. More attention should be given to creating personnel files and having an early warning system. The warning system should be able to identify complaints by citizens regarding excessive use of force, a history of neglect towards tasks and duties, and police suspected of corruption. It should also be able to identify positive aspects such as job commitment, independency, and disclosure of corruption amongst members and resistance of corruption. Officers should be able to demonstrate high levels of skill and integrity in training even after they become part of the force. A lack of integrity training suggests an acculturation process, whereby new officers learn the rationalizations and accepted behaviours from more experienced officers. After successfully joining the force, supervisors must watch for additional warnings. Supervisors should however, respect trained officers and treat them fairly and equally. Warnings that a police officer may be corrupt include poor informant reports, leakage of important information, financial status, and evidence of substance abuse or gambling. The supervision of officers would allow them to understand that nobody is immune to supervision or internal investigation. Internal investigation methods include integrity testing, financial analysis and drug and alcohol testing. However, police are not to be treated like criminals and are supported through the protection of internal informants and assistance of officers who face personal difficulties.

Traditionally, drug law enforcement has focused on seizing the production, distribution and supply of illicit drugs. It is evident in the Ombudsman report that this strategy has had further consequences such as the corruption of police officers, but no positive outcomes. It is recommended that law enforcement move away from the ‘war on drugs’ and minimise the harm of drugs in communities through harm reduction. Law enforcement is vital to achieving and shaping a community whereby drugs do not elicit a sense of violence and people are able to openly and safely use drugs. It is suggested by Goldstein that illicit drug markets are inherently violent. However, his concept of systematic violence refers to drug dealers that are predisposed to violence, combined with the lack of reasonable mechanisms for conflict resolution results in high levels of violence. Research in the US has suggested that the prohibition of drugs results in an increase of violence. In 14 of the 15 studies they reviewed, they found that drug law enforcement was linked with increased levels of violence. Drug law enforcement should focus on improving public health, economic development and strengthen community institutions rather than the number of drug related arrests, drug seizures, and the amount and type of drugs collected on a daily basis. If law enforcement were to make drugs legal, and therefore assist in the distribution of drugs it would reduce diseases such as HIV and AIDS. The criminalisation of drugs causes drug users to inject needles in unsafe places, increasing the risk of disease. In 2001 Portugal legalised drugs and in turn, it decreased the amount of people used drugs and overdosed. Over a 13-year period the number of HIV cases fell from 1,575 to 78 and AIDS from 626 to 74. It also decreased the number of arrests by 60% and amount of prisoners from 44% to 24%. Finally, voluntarily treatment of drug users increased by 60%. Law enforcement should provide needles for drug users to use under the supervision of a doctor. This would ensure that they only inject a safe amount, in circumstances where they are unable to contract disease. Police legitimacy is also a key issue in relation to drugs and corruption. The large profits that can be made in the drug business provide motivation for corruption. Drug law enforcement carries a great amount of power, which can be abused in many ways, some of which include providing intelligence to drug dealers, planting drugs to justify arrests, theft of money and the involvement of police in the sale of drugs. These types of corruption shows illegitimacy of officers to drug dealers and encourages them to maintain and develop their offending. When such corruption is presented to the public, the level of confidence in police as well as their legitimacy is severely damaged. Harm reduction would reduce the opportunities for police to become corrupt while simultaneously decreasing drug related crimes and diseases.