Who’s policing the NSW police?
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What historical events led to the corruption in the New South Wales Police Force?
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How much does the New South Wales Police Force spend on legal payouts?
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The New South Wales police force was so corrupt in the 1990s it sparked a royal commission and was forced to clean up its act. But today it's the most complained about force in the country and it's the national leader in legal payouts costing tens of millions of dollars. Today Four Corners reporter Dylan Welch on his investigation into cases of police abuse and misconduct. I'm Sam Hawley on Gadigal land in Sydney. This is ABC News Daily.
Dylan, last financial year, the New South Wales Police Force paid out $40 million in legal payouts and court costs. $40 million, that is a lot.
Yes, well, in fact, it makes the New South Wales Police now the national leader in legal payouts. That same year, there were 478 civil suits filed against the New South Wales state relating to New South Wales police misconduct.
What alarming statistics reveal police misconduct in New South Wales?
That's equivalent to two cases every working day of the year. And it's also become, over the last decade, the most complained about police agency. There's been about a 70% rise, by the way, in complaints over the last five years. Over the five years to 2024, there were about 1,000 findings of misconduct per year, but only about 2% of those cases led to charges against an officer.
Really stark, these figures. And Dylan, for your Four Corners investigation, you've been having a really good look into some really very concerning cases, right?
Yes.
Yeah, we've examined hundreds of cases of alleged police misconduct, but these are only the ones that are on the public record. I mean, there's many more. Most complaints don't become public because they never make it past this internal police investigation system.
What challenges exist in police internal investigations?
This is police investigating police. Often, it's the situation where you would have... senior police officer in a police station investigating a more junior police officer in the same station, which raises a whole bunch of issues around how they can really be objective.
All right, well, let's come back to the matter of investigations and how that unfolds in a moment. But, Dylan, this alleged police misconduct, it's sometimes caught on police body cam vision and on CCTV. And what we're listening to there is the start of a confrontation between a New South Wales police officer when he first confronts Brad Kelson in Sydney in 2021. Just tell me what's unfolding.
Yeah, so Brad Kelson is a guy from Casino up north in the northern rivers of New South Wales. He was living down in Sydney at the time in 2021 with his partner. They'd been out for the day.
How do body cameras impact police accountability?
They'd had a few drinks. On their way back home, they were going to go to a pub and have dinner and They refused entry. Now, as they left, there were people in the street who said they saw Brad push his partner and she fell over. Police were called. You know, we end up with a very large number of police turning up. But it then became unclear if Brad was the person, at the very least, if police had any evidence, if any of these witnesses were going to provide any evidence.
How many coppers? Two, four, six, eight. Nearly ten coppers work for me.
What happened in the case of Brad Kelson's unlawful arrest?
All for you. You've got to be f***ing joking me.
Right, and at this point, Brad Kelson and his partner, they're really quite confused about why they're being stopped by police.
Yeah, and look, we do need to note here, like a lot of the people in this story, Brad's no angel. You know, he's been in and out of custody since his teens, sometimes for crimes of violence. Years after this incident, he is convicted of assaulting his partner, but...
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What historical events led to the corruption in the New South Wales Police Force?
0:00–0:32
2
How much does the New South Wales Police Force spend on legal payouts?
0:32–2:01
3
What alarming statistics reveal police misconduct in New South Wales?
2:01–3:03
4
What challenges exist in police internal investigations?
3:03–4:15
5
How do body cameras impact police accountability?
4:15–4:52
6
What happened in the case of Brad Kelson's unlawful arrest?
4:52–5:51
7
What were the outcomes for the officers involved in police misconduct cases?
5:51–6:42
8
Is there a need for another royal commission into police conduct?
6:42–16:17