The Crime and Misconduct Commission has achieved significant results in investigating and fighting both organised crime and misconduct, including some record breaking achievements throughout the year.
CMC Chairperson Martin Moynihan AO QC says the true test for the organisation is whether it has contributed to creating safer communities in Queensland, instilling confidence in the state’s public institutions, and an honest and corruption-free society.
‘I believe our achievements show that we are making a difference to the lives of Queenslanders,’ Mr Moynihan said.
‘In the area of crime, in the past financial year we seized drugs to an estimated street value of $1.6 million preventing them from reaching communities.
‘We also began the prosecution phase of our landmark organised crime investigation, Operation Warrior. In total, eight people have been jailed and a further 32 have been charged with drug-related offences.
‘The CMC’s proceeds of crime team set a new annual record. As a result of their efforts, $9.3 million worth of criminally derived assets were returned to the state – the highest in the CMC’s history, almost doubling the former record of $5.5 million, set in our last reporting year.
‘A rise in public awareness about the CMC’s role, particularly among public sector agencies, led to our organisation receiving a record number of misconduct complaints (5124 complaints; 11 909 allegations). This was a ten percent increase on the previous year and again history-making for the CMC,’ Mr Moynihan said.
The majority of misconduct allegations were made against police (54 percent) with the remainder of allegations against public sector officers, including the public service, local government and politicians.
The CMC’s misconduct investigations area also saw outstanding achievements. CMC investigators finalised 118 matters resulting in a significant increase from last year in the number of recommended criminal (85) and disciplinary (79) charges.
Of the criminal charges, 64 were drug related and predominantly arose from three of the CMC’s police misconduct investigations – Operations Tesco, Adventure and Nighthawk.
‘These operations illustrate the CMC’s important focus on investigations into police misconduct targeting involvement with illegal drugs. To protect the public interest we will continue to give allegations of this type our close attention,’ Mr Moynihan said.
‘The CMC’s outstanding work throughout the year was achieved during a challenging time both internally and externally.
‘We concluded the high profile review of the Queensland Police Service’s Palm Island review. The report highlighted a legislative deficiency. Recently, the state government announced changes to the law enabling the CMC to fulfil its role of maintaining integrity in the QPS’s disciplinary system.
‘The CMC’s report – Setting the standard – put into the public spotlight the police disciplinary process and led to a further state government review.
‘The outcome of the government’s review has had an impact on our organisation in terms of workforce and resourcing implications and will continue to do so over the next few years as we implement the changes.
‘Additionally, new CMC management arrangements were introduced late last year after a major review of our governance systems and structures. They were put in place to enhance the CMC’s effectiveness, and we are beginning to feel the impact of these changes.
‘We are also redeveloping the CMC’s website which has already led to a 78 percent increase in our public accessibility and in the future we will consider the implications of social media.
‘I expect that over the next 12 months the CMC will deliver even better performance outcomes across the organisation,’ Mr Moynihan said.
View the Annual Report 2010–11 .
