School of Social and Political Sciences - Theses

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    Blue army: paramilitary policing in Victoria
    McCulloch, Jude ( 1998)
    This thesis focuses on the changes to law enforcement precipitated by the establishment of counter terrorist squads within State police forces during the late 1970's. It looks at the impact of Victoria's specialist counter terrorist squad, the Special Operations Group (SOG), on policing in Victoria and asks whether the group has led to the development of a more 'military based' approach to policing. The research demonstrates that the SOG has been the harbinger of more military styles of policing involving high levels of confrontation, more lethal weapons and a greater range of weapons and more frequent recourse to deadly force. The establishment of groups like the SOG has also undermined Australia's democratic traditions by blurring the boundaries between the police and military and weakening the safeguards which have in then past prevented military force being used against citizens. The SOG has acted as a vanguard group within Victoria police, anticipating and leading progress towards a range of new military-style tactics and weapons. The SOG, although relatively small in number,, has had a marked influence on the tactics and operations of police throughout the force. The group was never contained to dealing with only terrorist incidents but instead used for a range of more traditional police duties. While terrorism has remained rare in Australia the SOG has nevertheless expanded in size and role. Because the SOG is considered elite and because the SOG are frequently temporarily seconded to other areas of policing, SOG members provide a role for other police and have the opportunity to introduce parliamentary tactics into an extended range of police duties. The parliamentary skills developed by the SOG have been passes on to ordinary police through training programs headed by former SOG officers. In addition, the group has effectively been used as a testing ground for new weapons. The structure of the Victoria Police Protective Security Group and the way public demonstrations and industrial disputes are viewed in police and security circles ensure that parliamentary counter terrorist tactics will be used to stifle dissent and protest. The move towards paramilitary policing is necessarily a move away from the police mandate to protect life, keep the peace and use only minimum force. The interrogation of SOG and SOG tactics into everyday policing has occurred without any public debate or recognition of the important democratic traditions that have ensured that military force is not used against citizens except in the most extreme circumstances. Although the SOG is not formally part of the military it is nevertheless a significant parliamentary force virtually indistinguishable in terms of the weapons and levels of force at its disposal from the military proper.
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    Integrity testing and police accountability: a question of balance
    O'Neill, Michael J. ( 1998)
    Allegations of widespread corruption have resulted in the Victoria Police Force adopting an integrity testing strategy. Integrity testing was developed by the New York City Police Department in the 1970’s and involves the creation of a situation designed to provoke a response from a targeted police member to ascertain whether that member is involved in the commission of criminal or disciplinary offences. Despite the adoption of integrity testing by the Victoria Police there is no empirical evidence concerning its effectiveness or its relevance to the Victorian criminal justice system. Whilst there is already a considerable range of mechanisms affecting police accountability, integrity testing has a number of advantages that make it attractive to police administrators. Integrity testing is considered a significant deterrent to unethical behaviour within the ranks, and augments the range of options available to investigators to pursue their investigations. Integrity testing can however erode the positive aspects of police culture and if applied maliciously could result in a police officer being entrapped into committing offences. Although there is no substantial defence of entrapment in Australia the nature of the criminal justice system should ensure that individuals are not convicted of offences arising from an unjust test. The thesis argues that these safeguards are not available under the Victoria Police disciplinary system and it is irresponsible to permit integrity testing for suspected breaches of disciplinary regulations. Covert investigations such as integrity tests have been used by police for some time to facilitate investigations of criminal behaviour outside the ranks. These techniques have been accepted by the courts and are an indication that integrity testing is commensurate with the values and expectations of the judiciary. The depth and scope of the corrupt practices must be weighed against the potentially devastating effect integrity testing can have on the positive aspects of police subculture, only after this equation is calculated can one conclude that integrity testing has net benefits for both the community and the Victoria Police Force. In any event Force Command should ensure that there are appropriate monitoring protocols in place to ensure that integrity testing has a positive, rather than a negative effect on policing in the state of Victoria.