POLICE CADS

DETECTIVES face criminal charges after a raid on St Kilda police station
unearthed a cache of guns, drugs and cash.

Senior police said there was no legal reason for the items to be hidden in
the ceiling of offices used by the 23 members of the St Kilda criminal
investigation unit and the Embona taskforce. Police sources also revealed
yesterday there had been physical clashes between some St Kilda detectives.

The Herald Sun was told one was allegedly assaulted by a senior member
after confronting him about his actions about six months ago.

So far only two policemen have been interviewed over the raid and no one
has been charged or suspended.

Guns and other items are being DNA tested and forensically examined and
will be checked against evidence from recent crimes.

The cache was uncovered as part of an unrelated internal pol-ice
investigation into lazy officers, codenamed Operation Cad.

Assistant Commissioner Graeme McDonald said yesterday he was embarrassed
and saddened by the surprise discovery.

The haul included:

* a shotgun, a revol-ver, a pistol and an air pistol.

* several bags of traffickable amounts of suspected heroin, tablets and
marijuana seeds.

* credit cards, stereo equipment, number plates and two imitation pistols.

* illegal knives and a non-police issue steel baton.

* about $200 in cash.

Several bottles of whisky were found and there was beer and wine in the
fridge.

Mr McDonald would not speculate on the possibility the cache had been used
by corrupt police for criminal activities.

"The fact that these items have been found would indicate that, yes, some
people have not abided by the rules," he said. "Was it someone not prepared
to put it through the property book or is it an indication of something far
more sinister?"

"I'm not ruling that out but I can't speculate," he said.

The ethical standards department's concern about work practices at the CIU
and Embona taskforce - set up to investigate armed robberies on soft
targets - was heightened by an anonymous letter from a detective.

After discovering a small quantity of marijuana seeds under a desk drawer
in their initial search of the taskforce office, investigators noticed
panelling in the false ceiling of the office had been disturbed.

A stash of guns and other items was found in the crawl space above the
false ceiling, sparking a wider search of the office and a shared locker
room during which other items were found.

"Information provided to me would indicate that they (the guns) probably
haven't been there for an extensive period," Mr McDonald said.

Although internal investigators were armed with a ladder and torches, the
discovery of guns and drugs had come as a total surprise.

"It is embarrassing and I feel sad," Mr McDonald said. The majority of
police were diligent and trustworthy, he said. Those at St Kilda not
connected with the raid would be devastated.

The raid had started as a visit to seize station records and police work
diaries to determine why a handful of detectives had not been "contributing
as well as perhaps they should have been" as part of Operation Cad.

Mr McDonald said the corporate management review department of the force
would continue to look at work practices at the station.

Sources said yesterday the latest trouble at the St Kilda station went back
more than a year.

Mr McDonald said there was an unusually high level of sick leave at the CIU
and some question as to whether it was all legitimate.

"There was some indication that there was perhaps a morale problem there
which could have contributed to what is really an excessive number of
members being on sick leave at any one time in a relatively small unit," he
said.

Five of the 16 members of St Kilda CIU are on leave.

According to one source, a detective who claimed to have been assaulted
after confronting another officer at the station late last year spent
several months on fully paid stress leave while the matter was investigated
by ESD.

He said the officer was also was warned by ESD investigators to expect home
visits from his attacker's mates.

It is believed the officer accused of the assault accepted a voluntary
demotion to uniform duties but is now on sick leave.