Lawyers for police are fighting attempt by Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission to publicly investigate allegations of serious misconduct

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Victoria’s anti-corruption commissioner says allegations of excessive force by Ballarat police could be indicative of a culture of aggressive behaviour exceptional enough to warrant a public investigation.



In the supreme court the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (Ibac) is seeking to publicly investigate four alleged incidents of serious misconduct of police using excessive force between 2009 and this January.



Two Ballarat police officers, whose names have been suppressed, have been stood down with pay over the latest incident.



Counsels for the officers, David Grace QC and Dermot Dann, are fighting the public hearings, saying they could damage reputations and prejudice any potential criminal investigation. Neither officer has been interviewed or charged.

But Ted Woodward SC, counsel for the commission, said the commission wanted to investigate whether the allegations were “the tip of the iceberg” and whether the behaviour was “likely to be systemic”.



He said the Ibac commissioner, Stephen O’Bryan QC, had found details of the four alleged incidents and statistics indicating a “high degree of complaints” about the station since 2010 to be exceptional enough for investigations to be heard publicly.



O’Bryan indicated there was some “unnecessary aggressive behaviour against vulnerable women” that could indicate a culture, according to a document read to the court.



Justice Peter Riordan said he could understand why the matter would be in the public interest. But he said there could not be a public hearing if it would cause unreasonable damage to the reputations of the two police.

Arguments about whether it will be held in secret or public will continue to be heard in the court on Tuesday.