External probe into revelations police faked 258,000 breath tests
Victoria Police will appoint an external investigator to probe revelations that officers faked more than a quarter of a million roadside breath tests.
The development comes as the state's police association spoke out in defence of "under-resourced" officers, who it said were strugging to meet ever-increasing road safety targets.
An internal Victoria Police investigation has found more than 258,000 alcohol breath tests were falsified over 5½ years, in what appears to be a deliberate ruse to dupe the system.
“I had not heard of our members engaging in such a practice. We let ourselves down, we’ve let the community down. It stops now," Professional Standards Command Assistant Commissioner Russell Barrett said late on Wednesday night.
He said the external investigation would examine how the behaviour was allowed to occur and what the force could do to improve operational practice in the future.
The Victoria Police investigation found that in many situations, officers had blown into breath test units themselves or tampered with the devices.
“This conduct will not be tolerated. Any member found engaging in this practice from today has been put on notice they will be investigated," Mr Barrett said.
The police findings represent about 1.5 per cent of the 17.7 million breath tests conducted. Police said about 1500 preliminary breath test devices were analysed during the internal investigation.
Victoria's Police Association claims overworked officers are employing "desperate, quick-fix measures" to meet onerous road safety targets.
"One of the issues that this highlights is the burden that is created when under-resourced police are expected to meet ever-increasing road safety targets," a Police Association spokesman said.
"This is not about police being lazy. It's about some members employing desperate, quick-fix measures to meet overly onerous expectations, in an environment of vastly depleted staffing resources."
Victoria Police Minister Lisa Neville labelled the actions an "unacceptable breach of trust."
“This conduct is extremely disappointing and unacceptable — it’s wrong, it’s a breach of trust, and it won’t be tolerated,” Ms Neville said.
“Victoria Police will implement measures to ensure this never happens again, including increased professional development and guidance and regular audits to ensure proper compliance.”
While Ms Neville welcomed an independent investigation into the officers' behaviour, she said there was no evidence to suggest their alleged conduct had affected drink-driving prosecutions.
"The investigator will look at why this happened and whether any underlying cultural issues led to this behaviour," she said.
But opposition police spokesman Edward O'Donohue said the breach raised questions about the integrity of Victoria Police and the state's road safety regime.
“The integrity, not only of our police but our road safety regime, is paramount and it is up to Daniel Andrews to make sure this is thoroughly investigated," Mr O'Donohue said.
“Now is not the time for Daniel Andrews and Lisa Neville to pass the buck or blame others. It’s time to fix the system.”
The Transport Accident Commission raised concerns with Victoria Police after they found an anomaly in data late last year, Mr Barrett said.
It sparked the audit of the past 5½ years of data from the breathalysers.
Mr Barrett said the audit found a suspicious number of breath tests were being conducted in quick succession.
Normally, there should be some space of time between each test to take into account an officer on the road talking to a driver and breathalysing them, before moving on to the next car.
But the faked tests were occurring one after the other.
Mr Barrett said he believed officers were faking the tests to make themselves appear busier.
“The question we all asked was, 'Why?' There could be a number of reasons but the main rationale I believe is to hide or highlight productivity,” he said.
“Whatever reason our workforce may come up with, it isn’t acceptable.”
It is understood officers placed a finger over the straw entry hole on breath testing units or blew into the devices themselves.
It is believed self-testing was largely undertaken by police on general duties or highway patrol members, with some rural areas overrepresented in the data. The practice was not common at supervised drug and alcohol bus testing sites, police said.
Mr Barrett said an external investigator was being sought to examine the behavioural roots of the problem.
Victoria Police is in discussions with the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission about the matter.