Bugging report too dangerous to release

November 28th 2012 

THE secret police report into the widespread phone-tapping and bugging of over 110 serving and former officers was too "dangerous" to be released, the Inspector of the Police Integrity Commission, David Levine, said yesterday. 
 
The reputations of the NSW Police Force and individual officers could be trashed if the report and recommendations by strike force Emblems were made public, the former Supreme Court judge said.

Mr Levine said while he could understand the concerns of the 114 people named in just one of the warrants investigated by strike force Emblems, the final decision to release the report should lie with NSW Ombudsman Bruce Barbour.

Police Minister Michael Gallacher denied this was another attempt to bury the report which he had pledged to release when he got into government.

Police Association president Scott Weber said those police officers affected felt the matter was "not being taken seriously" and rejected criticism of the Emblems investigators.

"Many of (the officers) were senior and respected police officers," Mr Weber said.

"They did their absolute best despite zero co-operation from the NSW Crime Commission and limited access to information. They were even subjected to threats of being prosecuted under the draconian secrecy provisions."

Strike force Emblems was set up in 2003 after a number of officers, including one of the now-deputy commissioners Nick Kaldas, made complaints about being bugged by the police's Special Crime and Internal Affairs unit working with the Crime Commission and the PIC in what was called Operation Mascot. The operation's leader was Superintendent Catherine Burn, another current deputy commissioner.

REPORT OF THE INSPECTOR OF THE POLICE INTEGRITY COMMISSION INTO STRIKE FORCE EMBLEMS

Tuesday 27 November 2012

Letter to The Hon Michael Gallacher MLC from Inspector of the Police Integrity Commision

Operation Emblems & FLorida - OMBUDSMAN AMENDMENT BILL 2012

OMBUDSMAN AMENDMENT BILL 2012

20 November 2012

Page: 33

Bill introduced on motion by Mr Greg Smith, read a first time and printed.

Second Reading

Mr GREG SMITH (Epping—Attorney General, and Minister for Justice) [4.02 p.m.]: I move:
That this bill be now read a second time.

The Government is pleased to introduce The Ombudsman Amendment Bill 2012 to modify the jurisdiction and powers for the NSW Ombudsman to inquire into matters that simultaneously touch upon the New South Wales Crime Commission and the Police Integrity Commission. Since this Government took office last year, the Parliament has passed legislation to reform the governance arrangements for both the New South Wales Crime Commission and the Police Integrity Commission, the PIC. This reflects the Government's commitment to effective integrity settings for the State's law enforcement institutions. However, as members may be aware, there is a long-running matter involving these two commissions and the NSW Police Force that is yet to be resolved to the satisfaction of the Government and the community. That matter is commonly known as Strike Force Emblems, and it has its roots in crime investigation and police integrity operations that began more than a decade ago.

 Strike Force Emblems was an internal NSW Police Force inquiry established in 2003 to investigate aspects of Operation Florida, a joint operation involving the Crime Commission, the Police Force and the Police Integrity Commission. The report of Strike Force Emblems has not been made public. In May this year the Government asked the Hon. David Levine, QC, Inspector of the Police Integrity Commission, to review the report and advise whether it could be released. However, while undertaking the review Mr Levine received a number of complaints and submissions in connection to matters in the Emblems report. The NSW Ombudsman also received complaints concerning matters arising from the report. On 7 October this year the Premier announced that the Ombudsman and the Inspector of the Police Integrity Commission had conferred and agreed that the Ombudsman would be well placed to undertake an independent inquiry into Strike Force Emblems and any relevant matters leading up to it. The breadth of the complaints received by both offices meant it was appropriate for the Ombudsman to investigate. The Ombudsman is the appropriate independent body to comprehensively review these matters. The Government will ensure that the Ombudsman has the appropriate powers to undertake his work.

The first step to providing the Ombudsman with additional powers was taken when the Act was amended by proclamation on 10 October 2012. That amendment authorised the Ombudsman to investigate certain complaints regarding the conduct of executive officers of the New South Wales Crime Commission and members of the committee. This extension was limited to circumstances where the conduct in question is referred to the Ombudsman by the Inspector of the Crime Commission or the Inspector of the Police Integrity Commission. The Ombudsman Amendment Bill 2012 that I am introducing today will deliver the further powers that the Ombudsman requires to conduct his inquiry. The intention of this bill is to provide the Ombudsman with the necessary authority to inquire into operations and matters that traverse the functions and activities of the organisations involved in crime detection and crime agency integrity. The bill provides the Ombudsman with a framework in which he is able to conduct an effective inquiry covering all the relevant agencies and officers connected with Strike Force Emblems. The Ombudsman already has broad powers concerning investigation of police conduct, including coercive powers to compel witnesses to attend private hearings and to produce evidence. Under the provisions in this bill, these coercive powers are extended to the Crime Commission and the Police Integrity Commission where there has been a referral from an appropriate inspector, being either the Inspector of the Crime Commission or the Inspector of the Police Integrity Commission. The bill will not authorise the Ombudsman to exercise coercive powers unless there has been a referral from an inspector. It will remain the function of the Police Integrity Commission and the Inspector of the Crime Commission to oversee the conduct of the Crime Commission and the Inspector of the Police Integrity Commission to oversee the Police Integrity Commission where there is no relevant overlap.

Turning now to the detail of the bill, schedule 1 amends the Ombudsman Act 1974. Item [1] of schedule 1 provides for the Ombudsman to appoint legal counsel, who must be an Australian legal practitioner, to assist in an inquiry. Such an arrangement is consistent with those for other integrity agencies. New powers for the Ombudsman to restrict the publication of evidence or information provided to an inquiry, and the prohibitions against the publication of evidence or information provided to an inquiry, are set out in item [2]. These will provide a significant forensic benefit to an Ombudsman's inquiry by maintaining strict confidentiality of investigation-related information. The provisions mirror those that apply under the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act and the Police Integrity Commission Act. Schedule 2 to the bill amends the Crime Commission Act 2012.

Item [1] in schedule 2 requires that a referral by the Inspector of the Crime Commission to any public authority, which includes the Ombudsman, must include written terms. Item [2] of schedule 2 supports the provision of Crime Commission information to the Ombudsman, notwithstanding the secrecy provisions of the Crime Commission Act. New subsection 80A (1) permits the voluntary disclosure of Crime Commission information to the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman may instead, under new subsection 80A (2), rely on the coercive powers to compel the giving of evidence or production of a document. These powers are only available, however, if the evidence or document is relevant to a matter referred to the Ombudsman by the inspector of either the Crime Commission or the Police Integrity Commission. Item [3] of schedule 2 clarifies that the secrecy provision of the Crime Commission Act—section 80—applies to all material that was previously subject to section 29 of the repealed New South Wales Crime Commission Act 1985.

New section 80 is preferable to section 29 of the repealed Act in a number of respects, including because it allows for regulations to be made prescribing persons to whom information can be disclosed without breaching the secrecy provision.

It is appropriate to adopt the more up-to-date formulation for all relevant material. The final schedule to the bill is schedule 3, which amends the Police Integrity Commission Act 1996 to provide the Ombudsman with coercive powers in relation to the Police Integrity Commission upon referral of a matter from either the Police Integrity Commission inspector or the Crime Commission inspector. In conclusion, these amendments will support an important inquiry by the Ombudsman into a matter that has remained unresolved for far too long. The Ombudsman, the Inspector of the Police Integrity Commission, the Police Integrity Commission, the New South Wales Crime Commission, and the Ministry for Police and Emergency Services has each been consulted during the development of the bill. I thank each of those agencies for their constructive approach in this matter.

The amendments have been drafted to take into account the integrity oversight arrangements already in place. They provide an efficient but comprehensive set of arrangements for inquiries into matters of conduct that simultaneously touch upon the Police Force, the Police Integrity Commission and the Crime Commission. The Government looks forward to the successful conclusion of the Ombudsman's inquiry and his report. I commend the bill to the House.

Refer: Link

NSW Ombudsman to investigate police strike force

Updated Mon 8 Oct 2012, 9:23am 

A New South Wales strike force set up to examine police corruption will itself be investigated by the Ombudsman.

Strike Force Emblems was launched in 2003 to investigate allegations of corruption and abuse of power in the police force.

It was set up three years after a warrant was granted permitting the surveillance of more than a hundred police officers and two civilians.

Premier Barry O'Farrell says the Police Integrity Commission and the Ombudsman have agreed Strike Force Emblems should be investigated.

In a statement, Mr O'Farrell says the decision for the Ombudsman to conduct an independent investigation was made following a number of complaints and submissions against the strike force.

Greens MP David Shoebridge has raised concerns that the Ombudsman does not have the power to conduct an effective investigation.

Mr Shoebridge says any investigation by the Ombudsman will be ineffectual.

"The Ombudsman himself made it clear to me when I spoke to him at the end of last month that he did not have sufficient powers," he said.

"What is required is a full judicial inquiry with a full set of powers to pierce the secrecy provisions that the Crime Commission and the Police Integrity Commission have hidden behind for more than a decade."

A former assistant commissioner Clive Small agrees it should be an open and transparent inquiry with the powers of a Royal Commission.

"They constitute allegations of systemic misconduct and corruption, not only within the police, but possibly within other organisations as well including the Crime Commission and the Police Integrity Commission," he said.

"That's a pretty big allegation, it's very serious and it's something where the public of New South Wales needs to have confidence in both the inquiry and the result."

The Police Integrity Commissioner is still considering a request from Mr O'Farrell to publicly release a Strike Force Emblems report examining the surveillance of police officers.

Judicial inquiry the only way to end questions over police chief

October 2, 2012

Catherine Burn's new duties are at odds with unresolved claims, writes Neil Mercer.

The NSW police Deputy Commissioner Catherine Burn this week becomes responsible for specialist operations, putting her in charge of squads such as homicide, counterterrorism and professional standards - which used to be known as Special Crime and Internal Affairs (SCIA).

"May have participated in police corruption", according to a secret NSW police report ... Deputy Commissioner Catherine Burn. Photo: Michel O'Sullivan

 This move places her in a powerful position to succeed the Commissioner, Andrew Scipione. But it also puts Burn in an invidious, if not untenable, position.

Serious unanswered questions relating to her time in the controversial SCIA unit more than a decade ago remain. Indeed, as revealed in The Sun-Herald, a secret NSW police report states Burn ''may have participated in police corruption'' while she worked there.

So how is it that Burn is now installed as the head of internal affairs and in charge of the state's most experienced and senior detectives with such serious claims still unresolved.

The report, by Strike Force Emblems, written in 2004, examined complaints against Burn and three other SCIA officers who were involved in an undercover operation on the north coast.

It said there was no evidence to bring criminal or disciplinary charges against her or the others and the Herald does not suggest Burn is corrupt. But, critically, the report also states its inquiries hit a roadblock when it was denied access to crucial documents and witnesses.

This was because, at the time, SCIA was running a covert inquiry into police corruption code-named Operation Mascot and, as a result of the NSW Crime Commission's involvement, the highest secrecy provisions applied.

When Emblems detectives investigating Burn went knocking on the crime commission's Kent Street door for help, it rolled down the shutters.

Scipione says he has not read the Emblems report because of the secrecy provisions. Why a report written by NSW police for the then commissioner, Ken Moroney, is secret from the current commissioner remains a mystery. Nevertheless Scipione, like Sergeant Schultz from Hogan's Heroes, knows nothing.

But leaked documents reveal that Scipione received an email in November 2001, explicitly warning him that some officers within SCIA were worried about the legality of telephone taps and the release of ''fictitious information'' to obtain listening devices. There were other serious concerns about wrongdoing. Scipione was SCIA's commander at the time.

Some of those concerns expressed in 2001 were followed up by the Emblems investigators. Its report found that ''criminal conduct'' and personal vendettas may have been behind one particular SCIA/crime commission bugging operation in September 2000.

On September 14 that year, Justice Virginia Bell of the Supreme Court approved an application for a listening device. It allowed SCIA and the crime commission to bug a staggering 114 people over a 21-day period.

There is another problem that arises in all this. Ms Burn must now work alongside senior commanders who, just 10 years ago, she nominated as being corrupt. Ticklish, to say the least.

Scipione, Burn and the state government have refused calls for an independent judicial inquiry. The matters, they say, are being looked into by the Inspector of the Police Integrity Commission, David Levine, a former Supreme Court judge.

At best, this is disingenuous. Levine has told Parliament he is looking at whether Emblems' report, or its recommendations, can be released. When this reporter asked him if he was only working one day a week as Inspector of the Police Integrity Commission, he declined to comment.

Levine does not have the time or resources to explore and resolve the serious matters raised by Emblems, including those involving Burn.

It appears the Premier, Barry O'Farrell, is being poorly advised. This matter has been going for 10 years and it will not go away.

A judicial inquiry is needed. The serving and former police affected deserve the truth and so do the people of NSW.

Crime Commission knew agent had lied in court, records reveal

September 30 2012

Neil Mercer 

IT WAS August, 2000. A massive covert investigation into NSW Police corruption, called Operation Mascot, was in full swing.

Run by three bodies - NSW police from within the Special Crime and Internal Affairs unit, the NSW Crime Commission and the Police Integrity Commission - it had been going since February the previous year. It depended heavily on a corrupt NSW police officer, codenamed M5, who was working undercover, recording his colleagues.

But secret Crime Commission documents obtained by The Sun-Herald reveal that at least two of those agencies knew on August 23, 2000, that they had a serious problem.

The problem was this: M5, who was working for SCIA and the Crime Commission, had privately admitted to his superiors that in order to obtain search warrants he had told lies in court.

The documents show that at a meeting on August 23, 2000, M5 admitted his perjury to a senior SCIA officer, Detective Superintendent John Dolan, and to the then assistant director of investigations at the NSW Crime Commission, Mark Standen.

They also reveal that another SCIA officer, the then Detective Inspector Cath Burn, compiled an "information report" about the matter on September 5 that year.

The Sun-Herald has been unable to establish whether the magistrate was ever informed that M5 had admitted lying in court.

The document says: ''[M5] informed Dolan/Standen that he swore information in support of an application for a search warrant [integrity test] knowing that information to be false.

"[He] said that he was very sorry for his actions and is aware of the problem it presents.''
The Sun-Herald does not suggest Ms Burn is corrupt.

On Friday morning, The Sun-Herald sent a series of questions to Ms Burn, now a NSW Police Deputy Commissioner. Through her lawyers Commissioner Burn issued a statement saying she was ''under an obligation not to disclose information or to make comment … as any disclosure would constitute a criminal offence due to the secrecy provisions of the NSW Crime Commission''.

Mr Dolan is no longer in the police and could not be contacted. Mark Standen, once the crime commission's top investigator, was not available for comment. He is serving a 22-year jail term for an unrelated matter - planning a 300-kilogram drug importation.

The latest leak to The Sun-Herald follows revelations reported in recent weeks about unethical, improper or illegal activities by some officers within SCIA.

The state government has so far rejected calls for an independent judicial inquiry, saying the matters are under investigation by the Inspector of the Police Integrity Commission, the former Supreme Court judge David Levine.

But Mr Levine himself has said he is simply assessing whether the recommendations of Strike Force Emblems, or its report, can be publicly released.

STRIKE FORCE EMBLEMS REPORT

 

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

Wednesday 12 September 2012

The President (The Hon. Donald Thomas Harwin) took the chair at 11.00 a.m.

The President read the Prayers.

Mr DAVID SHOEBRIDGE: I direct my question without notice to the Minister for Police and Emergency Services. Given the recent revelations about police wire-tapping operations that were reviewed in the Strike Force Emblems report, has the Minister asked the Commissioner of Police why he has not read this critical report on past police practice? If not, why not?

The Hon. MICHAEL GALLACHER: Members are aware of the response I have given thus far in relation to this matter. I can recall telling members some years ago that I would release the recommendations contained in the Emblems report. But I realised, having read the recommendations when I became the Minister for Police and Emergency Services, that if those recommendations were released in the form in which they are recorded in that report, it would not be possible for anyone to determine them as conclusive. For that reason, in May of this year I asked the independent Inspector of the Police Integrity Commission, Mr David Levine, QC, to examine whether the recommendations contained in the Emblems report had been satisfactorily implemented and whether those recommendations may be made available to the public. The Inspector of the Police Integrity Commission is the appropriate authority to conduct such a review— Mr David Shoebridge: Point of order: My point of order is relevance. The question is about why the Commissioner of Police has not read the Strike Force Emblems report. It is not about a referral history to the Inspector of the Police Integrity Commission.

The PRESIDENT: Order! There is no point of order.

The Hon. MICHAEL GALLACHER: The Inspector of the Police Integrity Commission is the appropriate authority to conduct such a review—a fact supported and accepted by the New South Wales Police Association. The Premier, who was responsible for the Police Integrity Commission Act, has further asked the Inspector of the Police Integrity Commission whether the Emblems report can be publicly released in its entirety. This request has been made in the interests of openness and transparency and to put to rest lingering concerns over this decade-old matter. The Government has no intention of changing its timetable because of dangerous leaks to the media. Justice Levine will consider the Emblems report in whatever time frame he requires and with whatever support he requests from the Government. My priority is to ensure that, whatever happens, investigations into serious organised crime and corruption are not compromised, that the identity of human sources—informants—is protected, and that the lives of officers who investigate serious crimes are not threatened by the release of highly protected information concerning police investigations. I imagine all members would share those priorities. With that in mind I ask that Justice Levine be given the time he needs to complete his inquiries. In response to Mr David Shoebridge's point as to why the Commissioner of Police has not read the report, I suggest that he take the opportunity to ask the commissioner that himself during the estimates hearings.

Mr DAVID SHOEBRIDGE: I ask a supplementary question. Will the Minister elucidate his answer by advising the House whether or not the Government will commit to releasing Justice Levine's report in full when it is received? The Hon. Matthew Mason-Cox: Point of order: That was not a supplementary question. It was a new question.

The PRESIDENT: Order! The question is in order.

The Hon. MICHAEL GALLACHER: As Mr David Shoebridge well knows, the Inspector of the Police Integrity Commission is able to print, publish and publicly release his or her own report. I will await Mr Levine's finding, but Mr David Shoebridge can take it from me that I want to make sure that this matter is put to rest once and for all. I am sick and tired of the innuendo, the suggestions of conspiracies. I want to see this matter put to rest just as much as Mr David Shoebridge and all the parties involved do. But I want to ensure that is done by a significant figure who will look at the evidence and make the determinations, not by politicians or others who may well have an interest in the matter.

O'Farrell 'appalled' but rebuffs call for inquiry

Lisa Davies

Crime Editor

Date September 10, 2012 

THE NSW Premier, Barry O'Farrell, is resisting calls for a judicial inquiry into the secret bugging of more than 100 officers, despite admitting he is ''appalled'' by the serious allegations raised.

As revealed by The Sun-Herald yesterday, the long-buried report by Strike Force Emblems alleges ''systemic corruption and mismanagement'' by some officers within the force's internal affairs unit.

The president of the NSW Police Association, Scott Weber, said the report clearly detailed ''allegations of the most serious abuses of power within the three organisations tasked with over-sighting police conduct''.

He said the government should immediately authorise a judicial inquiry ''to ensure that all officers wrongly named can have their integrity cleared''.

But Mr O'Farrell said he would do nothing until he received advice from the inspector of the Police Integrity Commission, the former Supreme Court justice David Levine, whom he asked in May to examine whether the report should be released.

''I'm appalled at what I read in the media about the report, I haven't seen it … [but] I'm not going to tell the independent PIC inspector-general how to do his job,'' Mr O'Farrell said yesterday.

''I think the first point here is to get the report out, that's what I've asked [for], whether or not that can occur.''

But the Herald has learnt the Premier may be waiting for a while - Justice Levine is only required to work a maximum of two days a week and has no staff other than a part-time secretary.

Meanwhile, many of the police the report describes as having been placed on listening device warrants for ''no justification'' are understood to be considering legal action for compensation for the damage to their reputations.

It is expected they will use the action taken by officers aggrieved over a covert taskforce codenamed ''Bax'' into organised crime in Kings Cross as a precedent. That legal action resulted in a compensation payout of almost $10 million.

Bugging bombshell as secret files revealed

 September 9, 2012
By Neil Mercer 

Hundreds of pages of secret NSW police documents contain allegations of "systemic corruption and mismanagement" by some officers within the force’s internal affairs unit, the so-called "white knights".

Documents obtained by The Sun-Herald, allege some officers in Special Crime and Internal Affairs - or SCIA - falsified information to obtain listening devices, telephone intercepts and search warrants and, in one case, induced a criminal to commit perjury in front of a magistrate.

"I smelt a rat … I was settling old scores"

They also show that Parliament, the public and rank-and-file police have been repeatedly misled about the reasons why one listening device warrant contained the names of 112 serving and former police and two civilians, including a journalist.

Former detective inspector Malcolm Brammer (left) and former detective sergeant John Dolan in 1991. Photo: David Porter

 In that case, many officers, including the present deputy commissioner Nick Kaldas, believed they were victims of a personal "vendetta'' by officers within SCIA.

And M5 - the corrupt officer turned undercover operator who secretly taped his colleagues - agreed. He told investigators: "I was assisting, nurturing corruption." He also said: ''I smelt a rat … I was settling old scores which related to my supervising Superintendent."

The bombshell allegations are contained in long-suppressed reports of internal strike forces code-named Sibutu, Tumen and Emblems, which were established to investigate complaints made about SCIA between 1997 and 2002.

The Sun-Herald has now seen copies of all three reports, which the police hierarchy and successive governments have refused to release.

Strike Force Emblems was set up in 2003 to investigate a controversial listening-device warrant approved in September, 2000. It contained the names of 112 serving and former police and two civilians - and it was one of dozens sought by SCIA officers and the NSW Crime Commission, which were running a covert inquiry into police corruption, Operation Mascot.

But its net was so wide that it placed under surveillance dozens of honest officers, including the current deputy commissioner Nick Kaldas, Detective Inspector Wayne Hayes, Assistant Commissioner Ken Mackay, and Detective Superintendent Paul Jones.

The key player in Operation Mascot was a corrupt NSW cop, code-named M5, who wore a listening device for two and a half years and recorded hundreds of conversations with his colleagues. His home was also bugged, as was his car, his briefcase and his mobile phone.

The Emblems report says eight SCIA officers, including its then boss, Assistant Commissioner Mal Brammer, his deputy Superintendent John Dolan and then acting Inspector Cath Burn were among those investigated. Ms Burn is now Mr Kaldas's fellow deputy commissioner, and both are touted as potential commissioners. Emblems does not make any findings against any particular officer.

It says its inquiries were hampered by the refusal of the NSW Crime Commission to hand over crucial documents, including affidavits, and it therefore could not reach definitive conclusions.

Nevertheless, it found:
There were clear indications that "criminal conduct may have occurred surrounding the affidavit".
On the available evidence there was no justification for 54 serving and former police and the journalist Steve Barrett being placed on the listening-device warrant.

Previous Strike Forces Sibutu, Tumen and Operation Banks had identified "systemic corruption and mismanagement" within SCIA in relation to listening devices, telephone intercepts and search warrants. Serious adverse findings of corruption had been found against senior officers attached to SCIA.

Strike Force Emblems suspected similar "alleged corruption". It reveals M5 became disillusioned with his SCIA handlers and believed they were sending him to record conversations with honest police in a bid to settle old scores. It is believed one of those was Mr Kaldas.

It is well known in police circles that at one stage, Mr Kaldas and John Dolan had a serious disagreement. Emblems says that, about a month after that confrontation, M5 approached Mr Kaldas, who then became suspicious and reported the matter to the then deputy commissioner, Ken Moroney.
M5, who worked undercover between February 1999 and mid-2001, said: "I was sent by my supervising Superintendent to a particular person five or six times, I smelt a rat … I was settling old scores.'' He said he was uncertain of the true motives of those supervising him.

Mr Brammer, who left the force in mid-2002, yesterday denied any wrongdoing and strenuously denied any knowledge of a vendetta. [See separate story.]

Mr Brammer has been the subject of adverse findings in previous internal police reports, including for "untruthfulness" a "manifest conflict of interest" as well as "bias" and "a lack of fairness". One inquiry found he allegedly perverted the course of justice by improperly arranging an internal investigation against an officer.

Mr Dolan, who has also left the force, could not be reached for comment.

Mr Brammer has previously said Operation Mascot was run with the full co-operation and supervision of the Crime Commission and the Police Integrity Commission. He said the current Police Commissioner, Andrew Scipione, was involved at the time and he knew of no improper conduct by Ms Burn or anyone else.

At least one former SCIA officer has raised the "vendetta" allegation. In a formal record of interview with one of Emblems' predecessors, Strike Force Tumen, the detective Paul Albury says he thought the targeting of Mr Kaldas was based more on a "personal vendetta" rather than any evidence.

The officer says there was deep concern by some within the unit that serving and former officers were being targeted on the basis of "third and fourth-person hearsay''.

The previous Labor government and the O'Farrell government have refused to release the Emblems report, despite the current police minister, Mike Gallacher, pushing for its release while in opposition.
The Inspector of the Police Integrity Commission, David Levine, has been asked by the State Government to investigate whether the Strike Force Emblems report can be released. He is currently working his way though documents provided to him by NSW Police and the Crime Commission. It is not known when his inquiry will be completed.

Some former detectives named on the warrant believe he has not been given the resources needed to get to the bottom of the long-running saga. They believe an independent judicial inquiry is required - free of police intervention.

They say the Police Integrity Commission is disqualified from investigating the matter because it was intimately involved with SCIA and the Crime Commission in Operation Mascot from an early stage.

Strike Force Emblems interviewed 35 people who complained about their names being on the warrant. Emblems found there was no justification for 22 of those, including Mr Kaldas, being on the warrant. Overall, it found that of the 114 people named, there was probably no justification for 54 of them being on it.

"The use of 114 names on the subject listening device is an abuse of process and not in the 'spirit' of the legislation. It is not conceivable each person would be part of a conversation over a 21-day period."

(Warrants are approved for 21 days. Police need to reapply if they want to continue bugging).
Many other police named on the warrant are respected and senior detectives. The vast majority have never been told why they appeared on the warrant, let alone questioned or charged.

Emblems investigators said their inquiries were hampered because the then head of the NSW Crime Commission, Phil Bradley, after initially agreeing to co-operate, refused to hand over crucial documents. These included affidavits which were presented to the Supreme Court to support the application for the listening device.

Strike force investigators, which included five detective inspectors, clearly found themselves under intense pressure and took the extraordinary step of recording their fears that they may be subject to "payback''.

"Although there is no evidence of a 'payback' or 'reprisal', the nature of the Strike Force Emblems investigation, with the alleged corruption identified, indicates there is a potential for retribution against Strike Force members," the Emblems report said.

Investigators also reveal they were directed to be less than truthful with the 35 people who formally complained about their names being on the warrant.

It says they were "instructed" to tell complainants ''we are working towards obtaining the affidavit''.
"At no time have the complainants been informed that the affidavit has been refused or that the Crime Commission is being obstructive."

The Sun-Herald asked Mr Scipione, Ms Burn and Mr Kaldas for comment.

Through a spokesman, Mr Kaldas said he was "unable to comment".

Ms Burn did not wish to comment, except to say she had never been the commander of SCIA.

The Police Commissioner, Andrew Scipione, said: ''All matters relating to Strike Force Emblems and any associated materials have been referred to the Inspector of the Police Integrity Commission. NSW Police has provided all materials asked for by the inspector.''

Strike Force Emblems 7.30 Show

Welcome to '7.30' NSW.

Start 29-09-2012 05:59 AM

End 29-09-2012 06:33 AM

I'm Quentin Dempster. 

Quentin Dempster

Tonight - Wire tap wronged, senior police still fuming over being named in covert surveillance warrants. There is no legitimate reason why they were on that warrant.

There is a big integrity test coming for the O'Farrell Government and its oversight body the Police Integrity Commission. It concerns an old wound, bitterly hurt feelings among many senior police with unblemished service records and the integrity of the system itself.

The current inspector of the police integrity commission, David Levine QC has been asked by the Government to consider the public release of what's called the Emblems Report into the alleged abuse of covert surveillance search warrants dating back 12 years. The warrants, some regularly reissued with the approval of judges, named 114 serving and former police and some civilians. Many want a judicial inquiry to clear the air.

What is all this about? It has suppressed been secret for 10 years and suppressed by successive State Governments, when you read it you can understand why they want to suppress it. It casts into doubt the role of special crime and internal affairs, the NSW Crime Commission and the Police Integrity Commission and it casts questions on the Supreme Court of NSW.

It is little wonder they don't want this out.

Neil Mercer

This is the contentious affidavit leaked to veteran Sydney crime reporter Neil Mercer of the 'Sun Herald'. Under the name of an officer attached to the NSW Crime Commission, it lists dozens of names and in marked paragraphs, describes the evidentiary leads and roar intelligence the officer relied on to persuade a Supreme Court judge in 2000 to approve listening device warrants. In an operation said to be needed to expose police corruption, an already self confessed corrupt police officer, code named M5, a registered crime commission informant was wired for sound for two and a half years and tried to engage his targets in private conversations.

Virginia Bell

This is the affidavit which was presented to Virginia Bell in the NSW Supreme Court and, as you can see, dozens and dozens of names on it, in fact there is about 114 names on this particular document. Some of them deserve to be there.

There is dozens who should never have been on this document and you come down to people. Look at Ken Mackay is now an assistant commissioner, no reason why he should be on this document.

You come over the page, dozens of names and you look down here, Nick Caldas is now the deputy NSW commissioner. No reason why he should be on the document.

Respected detectives, Wayne Hayes, no reason why he should be there. Neil Mercer and his police sources have analysed the names. The warrant names about 114 serving and former police and a couple of civilians. Basically, six police out of that 114 went to jail, fair enough, there is no question, some of those names, some of the people on the warrant were corrupt. I think about another eight police left the police force. Really, the vast majority, it appears there is no legitimate reason why they were on that warrant.

Even an internal NSW police investigation into it said in their view that at least 54 of those 114 names should not have been on that warrant. There was no legitimate reason why they should ever been there, no proof and what I have been told is that some of them were there for people as get squares, personal vein debt Yass and some of the names on that warrant were there on third, fourth, fifth hand hearsay. Covert operations using listening devices under the code name Mascot, gathered probative evidence of corruption but some innocent police became suspicious when they were visited by M5 on various pretexts.

This was the era after the 1990s Wood Royal Commission established endemic corruption existed within the force. That commission was successful, largely because of covert surveillance.

In 2002, police corruption involving the drug trade on Sydney's northern beaches was sensationally exposed, again through successful covert surveillance in a joint agency operation called Florida. 

But in 2004, following complaints from the police association and some of the aggrieved officers with unblemished service records named in the affidavit, then police commissioner Ken Moroney established Strike Force Emblems to inquire into the alleged criminal misuse of the warrants.

Deputy Commissioner Cath Burn

Emblems, overseen by senior police investigators reported with recommendations for further investigation on 25 August 2005.This is what all the fuss is about. This is the emblems report. Investigators say they were unable to complete their inquiries into the contentious affidavit because of the secrecy provisions of the NSW Crime Commission which prevented interviews and evidence from all officers oversighting and conducting the surveillance operation. conducting the M5 covert surveillance operation. Key finding said... established Strike Force Emblems recommended the removal of the Crime Commission's secrecy provisions to the extent necessary so a thorough investigation could be completed.

Seven years later no action has been taken on the emblems recommendation. Now, the leaking of the

affidavit and other material to the print media has reignited the hurt. At stake seems to be the standing of current Deputy Commissioner Nick Caldas, in line for the top job when the current commissioner retires soon. Also affected as another potential commissioner, current Deputy Commissioner Cath
Burn. She was once a part of the special crime unit which oversaw the covert operations with other agencies.

It has been reported investigation into the leaking of material to Neil Mercer and other’s.

Tell us, who leaked it to you?

You know I won't tell you that and never would.

Premier Barry O'Farrell

In May this year, Premier Barry O'Farrell, as minister now responsible for the Police Integrity Commission wrote to David Levine inspector of the PIC.

David Levine declined our request for an on camera interview.

We would like to post our copy of the emblems report and other documents on our web site to let some sun shine onto this dispute but on legal advice, we can't, but on legal advice, we can't. Greens MLC David Shoebridge said he can't, Shoebridge said he would consider tabling appropriately redacted documents under parliamentary privilege if the Government didn't act soon.

This ongoing controversy is putting in question the faith of senior police and the faith of the public. We need to have someone cut through. At the moment we have the Police Integrity Commission, the Crime Commission, internal affairs, all potentially involved in the matters under inquiry.

None of them can conduct an independent inquiry. We need an independent judicial inquiry to cut through. The usually camera-friendly minister for police Mike Gallagher declined to be interviewed.

Opposition police spokesman and former Premier Nathan Reece says Emblems was problematic for the former Government because its release could identify informants who fingered the corrupt. If such sensitive information could be excluded -I think it is important for the public that this be released, this document.

More complaints are coming I am told. Such is the anger in the NSW police force that this dead cat, as it is being called by senior police, will continue to stink up the policing of this State until the air is cleared.

NSW govt won't release surveillance report

THE NSW government will not release a report into a high-level internal police surveillance operation, saying the police integrity watchdog has found the investigation unsatisfactory. 
 
Police Integrity Commission (PIC) Inspector David Levine warned that releasing the Strike Force Emblems report would be "dangerous" and damage the reputation of NSW police.

Strike Force Emblems was established to investigate the propriety of an internal police operation in 2000, which put 114 people, including police and lawyers, under surveillance.

Some of those police are now in the top ranks of the force, including deputy commissioner Nick Kaldas.

Police and their union have called for the Emblems report to be released to protect the reputation of honest officers.

However, after being asked by Premier Barry O'Farrell to determine whether the report should be made public, PIC Inspector David Levine was damning.

The former Supreme Court Justice wrote in a letter to Police Minister Michael Gallacher on November 23 that he had found the report "to be such an abstruse and unsatisfactory internal police document that it is not in the public interest for it, its findings ... and its recommendations ... to be made public".

He wrote: "There is a grave risk to the reputation of not only the NSW Police as an institution but also of many named persons by false perceptions flowing from publication as well as inevitable speculations which would be fruitless as they would be dangerous."

Recommending the Emblems report and his review of it not be released, Mr Levine said it was not a question of avoiding public scrutiny.

"But rather of the operation of a transcending public interest in the fair and considered protection of the good name of the NSW Police," he wrote.

Mr Gallacher told reporters a line should be drawn under the "flawed" Emblems investigation.
In opposition Mr Gallacher had called for the release of Emblems, but having read in government what he said were its inconsistent recommendations, he had changed his mind.

He said the Ombudsman should now be allowed to conduct his investigation into the original surveillance operations and Strike Force Emblems.

"We've got to finally come to a point that says let's rule a line under Emblems, let's stop holding it up as somehow being a model of an internal investigation, let's (give) the Ombudsman the opportunity to go about and do this investigation once and for all properly," Mr Gallacher said.

He said it was now for the Ombudsman to look not only at Mr Levine's report "but indeed the entirety of this matter".

The Police Association of NSW said the recommendation not to release the 2004 Emblems report was "disappointing and completely unsatisfactory", and defended the officers involved in the investigation.
"Today's announcement does not address the key reasons why there was an investigation in the first place," Association President Scott Weber said in a statement.

"It is completely unacceptable for (Mr Levine) to wipe his hands of responsibility and shift the responsibility to the Ombudsman."

Greens MP David Shoebridge accused the government of "hiding key information from the public".
"More than a hundred people had their phones bugged it would appear with almost no grounds to support that," Mr Shoebridge told AAP.

"Those people include senior police, journalists and lawyers (and) any society should be troubled when their police can go and get such extraordinary powers with little more than a rubber stamp from the Supreme Court."

Report of the Inspector of the Police Integrity Commission into Strike Force Emblems

27th November 2012

Ministerial media release

The NSW Government has received the report from the PIC Inspector of his review of the Strike Force Emblems Report.

The Inspector has found that the Strike Force Emblems Report is of such an unsatisfactory standard that its public release cannot be found to be in the public interest.

The Inspector has recommended against the release of either the Strike Force Emblems Report, or his own report into this matter.

The Inspector states: "I advise against the publication of the Strike Force Emblems Report and my Report and Review of it.

The Inspector was asked to consider whether it was in the public interest to release the Emblems report. The Inspector has found, emphatically, that it is not.

The Inspector states: "This is not a question of the avoidance of public scrutiny but rather of the operation of a transcending public interest in the fair and considered protection of the good name of the NSW Police, of those who serve in it and of other members of the community.

The Inspector notes that he has referred to the NSW Ombudsman all of the matters that have emerged since the initial referral of this matter to the Inspector back in May of this year.

The Government has committed to giving the Ombudsman the powers he needs to provide closure to this matter.

This is a commitment the Government has honoured with the introduction and passage of the Ombudsman Amendment Bill 2012 which provides additional powers requested by the Ombudsman to undertake this investigation.

The Government supports the recommendations of the Inspector, and will continue to support the efforts of the Ombudsman to bring some resolution to this decade old matter.

The NSW Liberals & Nationals Government has been proper and transparent in its dealing of this issue and we look forward to the findings from the Ombudsman.

O'Farrell to reopen police bugging case

Heath Aston

Political reporter

27 May 2012

Premier, Barry O'Farrell

THE workings of the former internal affairs branch of the NSW Police could be laid bare, with the Premier, Barry O'Farrell, set to call a public inquiry into the decade-old scandal over the bugging of senior police.

The Premier is understood to be concerned at why a report into Strike Force Emblems has remained buried since 2004 despite renewed calls for its release by honest officers who were targeted for surveillance.

Emblems investigated a secret operation in which a former corrupt policeman, codenamed M5, used a listening device to gather evidence against colleagues in 2000.

There was fury when it later emerged in unrelated court cases that M5's targets spanned all levels of the force, including officers with impeccable records.


Nick Kaldas - a deputy commissioner - Bob Inkster, then commander of Taskforce Gain, Mike Hagan, Brian Harding and Dennis Gilligan, now a lawyer, were among those approved for bugging. A lawyer and journalist, Steve Barrett, were also on the list.

A source said Mr O'Farrell was ''very concerned'' about the bugging claims and ''may try to give the matter a more extensive airing''. It is believed that would take the form of a special commission of inquiry.

Mr Harding, who left the force in 1996 as a detective superintendent, and at least five other former police are seeking legal advice about a potential class action to force answers on Emblems.