NEW BREAK-IN REPORTED AT POLICE DRUG HQ

POLICE Minister Andre Haermeyer has described the 1996 break-in of the
Victoria Police Drug Squad headquarters as "the biggest scandal to hit the
police force".

The taskforce set up to investigate the theft of sensitive undercover drug
operation files was wound down last year after failing to obtain sufficient
evidence to lay charges.

A report by the Operation Sentinel taskforce was handed to Ombudsman Dr
Barry Perry.

Senior police believe corrupt fellow officers were involved.

It is understood 13 suspects were identified by investigators, most of them
police officers.

It was recently reported the detective who discovered the break-in, Sharon
Stone, claims corrupt police were paid $250,000 to do it.

The Sunday Herald Sun has reported the Ethical Standards Department is
investigating another break-in at the Drug Squad headquarters.

The burglary is believed to have happened between September and October last
year and involved the theft of a 9mm-calibre pistol from a secured drawer
protected by a combination lock in an inspector's office.

A third security breach at the drug squad happened in 1992 when the squad's
old Russell St headquarters were burgled and police admitted that
confidential files might have been accessed.

Speaking when he was Opposition police spokesman, Mr Haermeyer labelled
Operation Bart an "abysmal failure".

He said it achieved "next to no results" and that Victoria needed to follow
NSW and establish a wide-ranging, independent inquiry into police
corruption.

Operation Bart was set up to investigate police accepting bribes from window
shutter operators for calling them direct and bypassing the police
communications centre, D-24.

It was alleged police regularly stole goods, such as televisions, videos,
alcohol and clothing, from shops where windows had been broken.

Operation Bart led to five police officers being sacked and another seven
fined.

In his final report, Ombudsman Dr Barry Perry said Victoria's police force
was captive to the corruptive influence of a large number of senior
officers.

And senior police had no idea what was happening at police stations and
turned a blind eye to corruption, he said.

Dr Perry said almost one police officer in 10 was suspected of being
involved in the window-shutter corruption scandal.

He said many station commanders, sergeants and senior sergeants in
particular, had obstructed his probe.

Dr Perry said that, while police command's reaction to Operation Bart,
including creating the Ethical Standards Department, was positive and
timely, it was not enough.

Despite three years of investigation, Dr Perry said he could only partly
explain why so many members were involved in such corrupt practices for so
long.

Mr Haermeyer said Victoria Police corruption would have been better tackled
by an independent inquiry chaired by a senior barrister or retired judge.

Police whistleblower Karl Konrad said he had been vindicated by the
Ombudsman over his claims in 1995 that police were receiving kickbacks.

THE Sunday Herald Sun reported in April that 11 police officers were being
investigated by the Ethical Standards Department for allegedly earning up to
$200 a day driving trucks between Melbourne and Adelaide, sometimes while on
duty.

Up to seven police officers have been asked to resign and two – one based in
the Wimmera and the other at Dimboola – have done so.

Another two are on sick leave.

Police and transport industry sources said up to 50 Victorian police were
allegedly driving trucks for a grain cartage company.

The ESD is also investigating allegations that some officers tried to
pressure other police to drop speeding and speed-camera fines against them,
and to withdraw fines of up to $500 for driving overloaded trucks.

It is also alleged police cars were sometimes used to ferry home officers
who had dropped off trucks.

The ESD began investigating the scam 18 months ago.

Victorian officers are banned by police command from any part-time
employment in the transport, liquor, gaming and security industries.

Opposition police spokesman Peter Ryan said: "The real tragedy of this is
that it strikes at the heart of the great faith Victorians have in their
police force."

A SERVING policeman who is a prime suspect in the murder of Niddrie
mother-of-three Jane Thurgood-Dove failed a lie-detector test about the
killing.

Mrs Thurgood-Dove's husband, Mark, considered a suspect by some police,
passed the test.

The polygraph machine which was used is believed to have indicated the
policeman answered dishonestly when asked if he was responsible for the
death.

Mrs Thurgood-Dove, 34, was shot dead in the driveway of her Muriel St,
Niddrie, home on November 6, 1997.

The policeman, who has admitted being obsessed with Mrs Thurgood-Dove, has
been interviewed twice by Homicide Squad detectives.

The officer, who has been in the force more than 10 years, has not been
charged and is on operational duty.

A $100,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest and
conviction of Mrs Thurgood-Dove's killers.

THE Sunday Herald Sun revealed last month that a police sergeant was being
investigated over allegations of sexual misconduct.

The country officer allegedly raped women he had helped place in emergency
accommodation.

It is believed the policeman, who is in his 50s and on holiday in Asia,
plans to retire when he returns to the central Victorian town this month.

Police have confirmed the Ethical Standards Department was investigating the
allegations.

Sources claimed four women have alleged they were raped or forced to have
sex.

In April, the Sunday Herald Sun revealed three women who accused a policeman
of sexual misconduct while he was stationed at Maryborough were granted
crimes compensation.

A fourth woman has also lodged an application for compensation alleging the
same policeman raped her.

A Firearms Appeals Committee (FAC) was told several other police officers
who were stationed at Maryborough left the force because of claims of sexual
misconduct.

The committee was told that, although the Office of Public Prosecutions laid
charges against the policeman over allegations involving the three women,
the case did not proceed.

Police did not charge the man over allegations that he raped Doreen Petrov,
of Maryborough.

Mrs Petrov has appealed to the Ombudsman to resume the investigation.

The police officer told the committee Mrs Petrov's claims were investigated
in 1996 by the Ethical Standards Department but were "unsubstantiated".

The officer is now at another police station in country Victoria.

VICTORIA'S most notorious detective, Sgt Denis Tanner, resigned from the
police force in August last year with a $300,000 superannuation payout,
ahead of moves by Chief Commissioner Neil Comrie to sack him under new
legislation.

In December 1998, Coroner Graeme Johnstone found Tanner shot and killed his
sister-in-law Jennifer Tanner at her Bonnie Doon farmhouse in 1984.

The Director of Public Prosecutions Geoff Flatman QC later announced Tanner
would not be charged over the death because of insufficient admissible
evidence.

At another inquest, Tanner was linked to a dead transsexual prostitute,
Adele Bailey.

Ms Bailey disappeared in September 1978 and her skeletal remains were found
in a remote and disused mineshaft behind the Tanner's family farm.

The St Kilda prostitute had been arrested by Tanner four months before she
disappeared.

Last year, Coroner Jacinta Heffey ruled she was unable to establish an
involvement by Tanner in Ms Bailey's death.

A RAID at St Kilda police station by internal investigators on May 10
discovered a cache of guns, drugs and cash.

The seven guns included a .22 calibre rifle, a sawn-off shotgun, a pistol
and revolver.

Also found were several bags of heroin and amphetamines, marijuana seeds,
credit cards, numberplates, stereo equipment, illegal knives, a steel baton
and about $200 in notes.

The haul was found in the ceiling space above the locker room and offices
used by detectives from the Embona Taskforce and St Kilda criminal
investigation unit.

One officer has been disciplined and Ethical Standards Department
investigators are waiting for the results of DNA tests on the items found.

Up to 86 detectives and uniformed officers are expected to be interviewed
about the find and may be asked to give DNA samples.