[ad_1]
South Australia’s corruption watchdog has cleared Police Commissioner Grant Stevens of a discipline breach for accidentally discharging his firearm during a house raid in the early 1990s.
Commissioner Stevens had revealed in July that when he was a senior constable stationed in the northern suburbs in the early 1990s, he accidentally discharged his firearm while attempting a raid on a suspected drug dealer’s property.
The revelation came after The Sunday Mail published a story about the incident a week earlier, but only referred to a “high-ranking South Australian police officer”.
In a rare public statement on Tuesday, Independent Commissioner Against Corruption (ICAC) Emma Townsend revealed her agency had launched an investigation in July to examine whether the December 1990 incident constituted a breach of discipline by Commissioner Stevens.
The investigation “refuted” the “alleged breaches of discipline”, the ICAC said.
“The allegations made regarding the conduct of the Commissioner of Police have been independently investigated and found to be without substance,” Ms Townsend stated.
She said the firearm incident in question “was reported on the day it occurred, in accordance with the applicable procedures”.
“It was thoroughly investigated in accordance with those procedures,” she said.
“That investigation was appropriately documented. The investigation resulted in then-Senior Constable Stevens receiving additional training.
“He was not otherwise subject to any disciplinary proceedings. This was an appropriate outcome.”
The ICAC found the allegations made regarding the conduct of the commissioner were “without substance”. (ABC News: Che Chorley)
In its June article about the firearm incident, The Sunday Mail reported there had been a second incident “several months” after the first in which the commissioner again accidentally fired his gun.
But the commissioner strongly rejected that claim, insisting there had “only ever been one occasion that I have accidentally discharged my firearm” — a view that was upheld by the ICAC.
“The second alleged incident involving the discharge of a firearm did not occur,” the commissioner said.
Ms Townsend said the ICAC’s investigation obtained and examined “relevant documents and witness statements” and reviewed the police commissioner’s file from 1991.
She said while such investigations were typically conducted by SA Police’s Internal Investigation Section, the circumstances in this particular case were different.
“ICAC considered the fact that the matter involved the Commissioner of Police, SA Police’s highest-ranked police officer, and that the allegations had been the subject of media reporting,” Ms Townsend said.
“In these circumstances, an independent investigation of the matter by ICAC was likely to promote and maintain public confidence in SA Police, and was consistent with the purposes of the PCD Act.”
While SA Police said Commissioner Stevens would not be commenting on the matter, the commissioner previously said he did not find the revelations “damaging” and that he had never “shied away from” discussing the incident with other officers.
“I’ve actually relayed the story on occasions over the last 34 years for different reasons to let other police officers understand how fragile circumstances can be,” he said.
“It serves as a lesson to the community that policing has inherent risks in it, mistakes do happen.”
[ad_2]
