The Law Handbook 2024

Chapter 12.4: Complaints against Victoria Police 1139 • malicious prosecution (i.e. lodging criminal charges for an improper reason); and • unlawful release to the public of confidential information retained by Victoria Police. Professional Standards Command The Professional Standards Command ( PSC ) is a unit of Victoria Police that is responsible for handling complaints about the conduct of Victorian police officers. When the PSC receives a complaint, the complaint is triaged (i.e. classified and sorted) by the Police Conduct Unit ( PCU ), which is a unit of the PSC. Then, the PSC can: • investigate the complaint; • refer the complaint to another operational police member for investigation; or • refer the complaint to the IBAC. PSC investigators do not investigate all the complaints received about Victorian police officers. The majority of complaints are referred to other police regions, departments and commands for investigation. For example, in 2016–2017, the PSC only investigated around 12 per cent of complaints. For the PSC’s contact details, see ‘Contacts’ at the end of this chapter. Independent Broad- based Anti-corruption Commission The Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission ( IBAC ) is a statutory authority established by the Independent Broad-based Anti- corruption Commission Act 2011 (Vic) (‘ IBAC Act ’). IBAC has jurisdiction to investigate corruption, and the conduct and misconduct of police officers. However, the majority of police misconduct complaints received by IBAC are referred back to Victoria Police for investigation. IBAC is more likely to investigate a complaint if: • the complaint is against a very senior police officer; • the complaint relates to serious problems with police practices or procedures; • the complaint relates to a systemic issue (e.g. multiple complaints about one police station); • the complaint relates to corruption; • the complainant has objective evidence depicting the alleged police misconduct (e.g. CCTV footage or footage captured on a mobile phone); or • IBAC thinks it is in the public interest for it to investigate the complaint. IBAC has extensive investigatory powers and can even hold public hearings. IBAC also has an oversight function and can monitor investigations into police misconduct conducted by the Victorian Police. For IBAC’s contact details, see ‘Contacts’ at the end of this chapter. Collecting evidence After an incident of police misconduct, you should collect evidence straightaway to make sure your version of events is as credible as possible. How to collect evidence There are several ways to collect evidence of an incident of police misconduct: 1 Make a record of the event If you do not lodge a complaint about the police misconduct straightaway, make a detailed record (in writing or as an audio recording) as soon as possible after the incident. Include everything you remember in as much detail as you can. If you record a conversation, use the actual words spoken, in the ‘I said’, ‘he said’ style. If you record the incident in writing, sign and date what you have written and, if you can, get someone else to witness this. Try to record or photograph the names, ranks and badge numbers of the police officers involved in the incident. It is useful to describe in detail the appearance of anyone involved in the incident. This can make a big difference later when it is not always easy to identify who did what and who was present. 2 Make a note of witnesses Write down the names, contact details and descriptions of anyone who witnessed the incident and encourage them to write down what they saw. If the incident of police misconduct occurred while you were in police custody, you should make