HOW POLICE BLEW IT
FORCE UNDER FIRE FOR FALSIFIED BREATH TESTS
VICTORIA Police will not reveal how many of the state’s falsified preliminary breath tests took place across the Geelong region.
It was revealed on Wednesday 258,463 alcohol breath tests were falsified over five years, with officers blowing into breath test units themselves or tampering with the devices.
Victoria Police yesterday declined to provide a breakdown of where the behaviour was taking place or how many officers were involved.
A Victoria Police spokesman said the incidents were “widespread and varied across the state in different work locations”.
“Some locations have shown problems historically, but then indicated no false tests in the last couple of years and vice versa,” he said.
Police Minister Lisa Neville reiterated the transparency of the investigation would be key to restoring the public’s trust.
“Victoria Police have a big job ahead of them to rebuild the trust of the community going forward,” Ms Neville said.
“How they undertake this investigation and the transparency around that will be critical trust.”
She said the behaviour was random and widespread but noted an “over representation” in rural areas that needed addressing.
The role performance targets had to play in driving the behaviour would become clear in the investigation, she said.
“I don’t think at all we need to change our target that we have for PBTs, which is well and truly achievable, well and truly below what they’re doing, I think it’s more likely to be something at a local level,” Ms Neville said.
A request for comment from Western Region Assistant Commissioner Cindy Millen was declined by Victoria Police.
Geelong Superintendent Craig Gillard was unavailable for comment. to rebuilding that
While Geelong region police closed ranks, a number of officers from other regions broke ranks to describe the pressure officers were put under to keep up with breath test quotas.
A number of officers have told of a culture where police felt forced to fake tests so their bosses could produce impressive statistics.
Officers claimed station bosses competed for who could produce the highest statistics.
“It’s a pissing contest between these blokes. It’s ridiculous,” one Highway Patrol officer said. “On paper it (performing more breath tests) looks good; in reality, it doesn’t work.”
Some police said they sometimes felt pressured to spend time stopping and testing drivers even when they had more pressing cases.
Failure to meet targets could risk opportunities for promotion, they said.
“It gets put on your PDA (performance review) that you are below standard,” one policeman said.
“Bosses don’t care about jobs you go to, they don’t care about crooks caught and drugs found . . . they care about stats.”
The Transport Accident Commission suspended up to $4 million in funding for road trauma after discovering “anomalies” in testing statistics.
The TAC raised the alarm to Victoria Police last September, leading to a review of the breath tests and statistics.
The force has now ordered a probe into the conduct, to be headed up by former Chief Commissioner Neil Comrie and overseen by IBAC.
“It’s a pissing contest between these blokes. It’s ridiculous.” HIGHWAY PATROL OFFICER