Legal Assistance
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The nature of
policing means members of Police, both sworn and non-sworn, are more
susceptible to misconduct and neglect of duty allegations than other
employees. Police hold special powers, which can often involve
confrontational encounters with members of the public. Policing also
demands high standards of conduct and the behaviour of members of Police
is a matter of considerable public interest. The Police Association has no wish to help anyone
to avoid justice or appropriate disciplinary action, however we believe
our members are entitle to the same rights, privileges and fair treatment
as the community they serve is.
The
Police Association spends well over half a million dollars helping members
of Police who face disciplinary action, sometimes in the form of a Police
internal tribunal or Court charge. Application
for Legal Assistance is available to all Association members for any
disciplinary charge, which arises out of their work or role within the
Police, whether they are sworn or non-sworn members of Police. The Independent Police Complaints Authority receive thousands of complaints against Police a year and Police face a better than one in three chance of being the subject of a complaint to the Authority. While most complaints are not upheld, they do cause stress and can have negative impacts on a member’s work and career. About
one-third of Legal Assistance each year is for members facing charges in
open court and of these cases usually more than 80% result in no conviction
or no penalty against the member of Police charged. By contrast the
Police’s own statistic for prosecutions of members of the general public
show that they are unsuccessful in defended hearings in only 33% of cases. Court charges
against members of Police are frequently given front-page media publicity
and attract a high degree of attention.
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