Mulrunji Doomadgee. ‘‘I think the commissioner needs to take some responsibility on this ... he needs to quit his position,’’ Cr Lacey said. ‘‘He’s failed in his duty in executing fair disciplinary action. ‘‘The Queensland police service is there to protect all Queenslanders ... regardless of whether they are white, black or pink.’’ Mr Lacey said the decision would further damage relations between law enforcers and the indigenous community.

‘‘Aboriginal people in Queensland will always be sceptical of police ... They were the people who removed our mothers and fathers. They will continue to be the bogey man,’’ he said. ‘‘It has set back the whole relationship and engagement by a decade or so.’’ Mr Atkinson said he did not believe it was appropriate or necessary for him to stand down following the release of Deputy Commissioner Kathy Rynders decision not to discipline the six officers. ‘‘I understand the angst that people have, that’s not the first time that claim has been made,’’ he said. If the reports are true then it shows that the police complaints system in Queensland has descended into a total farce

‘‘What I want to do is for the police department to work with the people of palm island ... and hopefully we can put this behind us.’’ Mr Atkinson said the decision not to pursue disciplinary action was correct, but he rejected claims by the CMC that a legal loophole was preventing the organisation from charging the officers for misconduct. The CMC can bring forward charges of official misconduct but do not have the legislative powers to charge police for police misconduct. ‘‘The CMC could have charged the six police officers with official misconduct,’’ he said. ‘‘They have chosen not to do that, I’m not a lawyer but there is no legal loophole preventing them from taking that sort of action.’’

Commissioner Atkinson said the police service never believed the officers should be charged with misconduct and consistently held the view that managerial guidance was the appropriate course of action to be taken against the officers. Mr Doomadgee, 36, died on the floor of the Palm Island police watchhouse in 2004 from massive internal injuries, including broken ribs, a ruptured spleen and a liver almost split in two, after being arrested for drunkenness by Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley. Senior Sergeant Hurley admitted he fell with Mr Doomadgee and that he may have inadvertently caused injury, but he was acquitted of manslaughter in 2007. There have been two coronial inquiries into Mr Doomadgee’s death. The CMC last June found that the initial police investigation in Mr Doomadgee’s death was ‘‘seriously flawed’’.

Crime and Misconduct Commission chairman Martin Moynihan slammed the decision by Deputy Commissioner Rynders not to take action in response the organisations’ recommendations. He said he was ‘‘astounded’’ the recommendation had been ignored. ‘‘It is almost incomprehensible that the police service has decided that there is no case for these officers to answer,’’ he said. ‘‘The police service must now justify to the people of Queensland its reasons for taking no disciplinary action against any of those officers.’’ Mr Moynihan said the CMC strongly objected to Ms Rynders' findings.

‘‘The QPS has circumvented the independent review process,’’ he said. ‘‘Her failure to take disciplinary action means that the CMC’s hands are now tied. ‘‘We could never have forseen that the QPS would find that the conduct of the police officers involved in the Palm Island matter did not warrant any disciplinary proceedings.’’ Mr Moynihan said under Queensland law, the CMC could only appeal a police misconduct matter in the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal if it was seeking to review a decision made about disciplinary allegations. No action could be taken if, as in this case, no disciplinary action was carried out.

Mr Moynihan said the CMC would move to change the law. ‘‘We will seek legislative change to ensure that all QPS disciplinary decisions are potentially subject to an independent review so that officers can be held accountable for their actions,’’ Mr Moynihan said. Premier Anna Bligh said the outcome would put renewed focus on the police disciplinary process, which was currently under review. ‘‘I think there will be a lot of people asking questions about the police disciplinary process as a result of this decision today,’’ she said. ‘‘I share their concerns. I want a better police disciplinary process; not one that takes six or nine years but one that responds to issues quickly and fairly and treats police officers fairly and is accountable to the public.’’

She said the matter had dragged on for far too long. ‘‘I think the family concerned, the public and the whole police service would have wanted this matter dealt with (more quickly),’’ she said. ‘‘That’s why we are now reviewing the whole police disciplinary process.’’ Queensland Council of Civil Liberties vice president Terry O’Gorman said the result highlighted a ‘‘deep-seated culture of self-protection’’ in the police complaints system. ‘‘If the reports are true then it shows that the police complaints system in Queensland has descended into a total farce,’’ he said.

‘‘The fact that it has taken more than six years to come up with this ‘non-conclusion’ on the simple issue of why were Hurley’s mates called in to investigate him ... is just beyond belief.’’ Mr O’Gorman said the result was enough cause for the police complaints system in Queensland to be overhauled. ‘‘The bad old days of police investigating police has resurfaced and that must change,’’ he said. The Queensland Police Union backed Ms Rynders’ decision not to take disciplinary action against the six officers. QPU assistant general secretary Denis Sycz said the police service’s stance had been vindicated.

‘‘There was never any evidence of any misconduct, there was a long held view that the officers should not face disciplinary action and this has been agreed on time and time again,’’ he said. Mr Sycz said the police who investigated the death ‘‘did a very good job under the circumstances’’, but said the CMC had shown gross incompetence in pursuing the matter. ‘‘I think [the CMC] have a different slant on things. They believe that all police are corrupt to the core and that things shouldn’t be handled by police at all,’’ he said. ‘‘But it’s a fact of life that police investigate themselves in these circumstances, [the CMC] had the opportunity to do so and they didn’t.’’ Loading

The Queensland Police Service have released a copy of report and findings online here. - Dan Nancarrow, Tony Moore and Marissa Calligeros with AAP

