Sign up: AU Breaking News email<\/sub><\/a><\/p>\nPolice decided last year there was \u201cno tangible benefit\u201d to conducting disciplinary action against the officer \u2013 who also faces four criminal charges related to alleged domestic violence offending \u2013 and decided not to investigate.<\/p>\n
The Queensland Public Service Administration Act contains discretionary powers that allow police officers to be subject to internal disciplinary proceedings after they have left the QPS.<\/p>\n
In practice, these powers are rarely used. The 2022 inquiry into police responses to domestic and family violence heard cases where internal disciplinary processes into allegations of serious misconduct were not finalised because officers resigned or retired.<\/p>\n
The tribunal found the QPS \u201cfailed to give sufficient weight and consideration to the conduct\u201d of the officer, which occurred \u201cover a protracted period\u201d.<\/p>\n
The allegations included \u201cmultiple acts of physical violence upon the former officer\u2019s heavily-pregnant ex-partner, posing a serious risk to not only her but also her unborn child\u201d.<\/p>\n
They also included allegations of \u201crepeated violations of the law and ongoing disobedience to lawful authority\u201d, and threats to kill and cause harm.<\/p>\n
The tribunal found the former officer\u2019s alleged \u201cinterference in the course of justice was [premeditated] and involved a significant degree of coercion\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis conduct ultimately resulted in conditions under a Temporary Protection Order being relaxed and [placing] the aggrieved at risk,\u201d the judgment said.<\/p>\n
The CCC argued \u2013 and the tribunal agreed \u2013 that the decision-maker, Acting Detective Supt Christopher Hansel, failed to properly consider the seriousness of the grounds for disciplinary action.<\/p>\nIn his initial decision, Hansel ruled there was \u201cno tangible benefit in having these matters investigated where the matters are still continuing through the court\u2019s process\u201d.<\/p>\n
The tribunal said this conclusion was \u201cmisconceived and not supported by the evidence\u201d before Hansel when he made the decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cRegardless of the outcome of the court process, the benefit to the QPS would be that the former officer\u2019s conduct would be properly assessed internally within the QPS and, if found liable for disciplinary action, a disciplinary declaration would have been made,\u201d the tribunal said.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Hansel\u2019s] decision means that the former officer would escape that process.\u201d<\/p>\n
The CCC also argued the disciplinary investigation would have \u201cconveyed a broader benefit by the QPS maintaining public confidence in its handling of serious disciplinary allegations of this nature\u201d.<\/p>\n
Last month, the QPS announced it would scrap its specialist domestic and family violence command. In doing so, senior officers argued that the service had addressed cultural failings highlighted by the 2022 inquiry.<\/p>\n