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.
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