NSW Legislation to Replace Current Three Police Integrity Bodies with One Body Introduced

Yesterday (14 September 2016), the Police Minister Troy Grant introduced into the NSW Legislative Assembly the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission Bill 2016 (the LECC Bill) which, if it is passed through the NSW Parliament, will see a single Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC) replace the existing three investigative bodies currently responsible for investigating police conduct, administration and corruption.

The bodies replaced by the LECC would be the:

• Police Integrity Commission;
• Police Division of the Office of the Ombudsman; and
• Inspector of the NSW Crime Commission.

What the Government Sees as the Objects of the LECC Bill

In the explanatory materials accompanying the LECC Bill, the broad ranging objects of the LECC Bill are stated as being:

• to promote the integrity and good repute of the NSW Police Force and the Crime Commission by ensuring that they properly carry out their functions and responsibilities in relation to the handling of complaints (and information that the Commission becomes aware of otherwise than through a complaint that indicates or suggests conduct is (or could be) officer misconduct or officer maladministration or agency maladministration);
• to provide for the independent detection, investigation and exposure of serious misconduct and serious maladministration within the NSW Police Force and the Crime Commission that may have occurred, be occurring, be about to occur or that is likely to occur;
• to provide for independent oversight and review (including, where appropriate, real time monitoring and review) of the investigation by the NSW Police Force of misconduct matters concerning the conduct of its members and the Crime Commission concerning its officers;
• to prevent officer misconduct and officer maladministration and agency maladministration within the NSW Police Force and the Crime Commission by:
• providing for the identification of systemic issues that are likely to be conducive to the occurrence of officer misconduct, officer maladministration and agency maladministration; and
• assessing the effectiveness and appropriateness of their procedures relating to the legality and propriety of activities of their members and officers; and
• encouraging collaborative evaluation of opportunities for, and implementation of, desirable changes in such procedures; and
• making recommendations with respect to education and training about prevention of officer misconduct, officer maladministration and agency maladministration;
• to ensure that agencies work collaboratively to support and promote the prevention of officer misconduct, officer maladministration and agency maladministration and to improve their processes and systems;
• to recognise the primary responsibilities of the NSW Police Force and Crime Commission to investigate and prevent officer misconduct and officer maladministration within those agencies and agency maladministration while providing for oversight of those functions;
• to foster an atmosphere in which complaints, provision of other information about misconduct and independent oversight are viewed positively as ways of preventing officer misconduct, officer maladministration and agency maladministration;
• to provide for independent oversight and real time monitoring of critical incident investigations undertaken by the NSW Police Force;
• to provide for the scrutiny of the exercise of powers by the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission and its officers by an Inspector and for the Commission and for the Inspector to be accountable to Parliament; and
• to provide for the oversight of the use of covert powers under various Acts.

How the LECC is Intended to Operate

The LECC Bill constitutes the LECC as a single, independent, accountable body that is responsible for functions relating to the detection, investigation, exposure and prevention of police corruption and officer misconduct and officer and agency maladministration and for the oversight of certain operations and procedures of the NSW Police Force and the Crime Commission.

The explanatory material points out that the functions of the LECC are to be "broadly similar" to those currently exercised by the Police Integrity Commission, the Inspector of the Crime Commission and the Ombudsman.

The LECC is also to be empowered to monitor the carrying out of investigations of critical incidents involving police officers and other members of the NSW Police Force and provides for an Inspector of the Commission (the Inspector) to audit and oversee its operations and the conduct of its officers.

Other Legislation Amended as a Result

The LECC Bill will also amend a large number of NSW Acts and regulations so as to confer functions on the Inspector involving the monitoring of the exercise of covert investigative powers by investigative agencies. Also amended are various Acts and a regulation for the purpose of overriding secrecy and non-disclosure provisions in the amended legislation that would otherwise, prohibit the disclosure of evidence and information obtained at hearings or inquiries or in the carrying out of other functions to permit the disclosure of such information to a health practitioner for the purposes of providing medical or psychiatric care,treatment or counselling (including but not limited to psychological counselling) to persons required to give evidence or information at the hearings or inquiries or to the persons exercising the functions.

Comments and Reactions

The Police Minister is reported as saying the LECC's powers would be similar to those of a royal commission and that it would ". . . have a more active role in oversight for critical incident investigations". The new Commission, according to the Police Minister, would take over all investigations being handled by the current bodies it replaces.

Criticism of the LECC Bill is reported to have come from Greens MP and spokesman on justice issues Mr David Shoebridge who is reported as saying that ". . . while the current police integrity system was overly cumbersome, the proposed new model was also flawed". His claims the LECC concept is flawed because:

The LECC Bill is at second reading stage in the NSW Legislative Assembly and is like to be the subject of a lengthy debate in both houses of State Parliament.

TimeBase is an independent, privately owned Australian legal publisher specialising in the online delivery of accurate, comprehensive and innovative legislation research tools including LawOne and unique Point-in-Time Products.

Law Enforcement Conduct Commission Bill 2016 and explanatory material as reproduced in TimeBase LawOne

NSW Government introduces bill for new police watchdog (ABC News)