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Abstract
Conflict of interest allegations became a prominent part of the political and public
sector in the 1980s and 1990s in Australia and elsewhere. The arena of policing was not
immune, and in Victoria, the Ombudsman drew particular attention to the problem and
expressed concern about the rise in public complaints relating to alleged conflicts of
interest on the part of police officers.
Against this background, permission was granted by Victoria Police for a major
study of conflict of interest complaints against police officers within their jurisdiction.
Access was granted to all public complaint case files where conflict of interest was the
focus of the allegations, from the period 1988 1998. A total of 377 usable complaints
files were examined, involving 539 police officers.
Through extensive examination and analysis of these complaint case files, a
comprehensive map of the particular kinds of interest involved, the nature of the
conflicts with official police duties, and the particular contexts within which conflicts of
interest emerged, was developed. Analysis of the case files identified 25 different types
of problems related to conflict of interest. These were spread across the private and
public realms of police officers involvements.
Previous studies of conflict of interest have focused largely on the opportunities
for misconduct arising in the public realm of police work and police duty, largely
neglecting attention to the private realm of the relationships and involvements of a
police officer that give rise to conflicts of interest. In this study, the specific private
interests that gave rise to problems were able to be identified in 35 percent of all cases.
Three broad problem areas were identified: (i) outside employment, private business
interests, political, social, and sporting interests and involvements; (ii) family-based
involvements, especially those involving family law problems; and (iii) problematic
personal relationships, including relationships with criminals, informers, and persons of
ill repute. These conflicts of interest were related to a range of breaches of official
police duty, including the misuse of police authority for personal or family benefit, the
use of police position to facilitate personal relationships, and inappropriate disclosure of
confidential police information.
When the conflict of interest identified related specifically to a police officer s
official or public role as a member of the police force, the main types of misconduct
identified included three broad areas: (i) the use and abuse of police powers and authority; (ii) the use and abuse of police resources, including information; and (iii) the
receipt of gratuities and breaches of the law. These problems were shown to play out in
a range of ways, encompassing such behaviours as misuse of the police identity,
inappropriate accessing of police information, involvement in investigations where the
police officer concerned has a personal interest in the matter, failing to take appropriate
police action against friends, family, or associates, the exercise of improper influence in
civil matters, and engagement in harassment and discrimination.
This study offers some important conceptual developments in relation to the
notion of conflict of interest, focusing on the importance of the distinction between a
conflict of interest and an associated breach of duty. The study noted that it is often
erroneously assumed by police that if there is no breach of duty evidenced, then there is
no problem of conflict of interest.
The study also offers an important insight into the oversight and accountability
processes involved in Victoria Police, emphasising the importance and effectiveness of
the oversight role of the office of the Victorian Ombudsman. Evidence also suggests
that the internal review processes within Victoria Police are by-and-large stringent, and
that senior police management are genuinely interested in making police officers more
accountable for their actions. However, it is concluded that both front-line operational
police officer and police management often have a limited understanding of conflict of
interest, and problems attendant to conflicts of interest.
The study s insights into the problem of conflict of interest are significant insofar
as this problem is related to police misconduct ranging from minor to serious of
various kinds. Attention to the problem of conflict of interest may be an important
element in preventing upstream police misconduct and corruption.