A New South Wales Greens MP has complained to the state’s police commissioner over officers’ trolling of the party’s anti-drug detector dog campaign on social media.

Several officers have been found to have posted incorrect information on the NSW Greens’ Sniff Off Facebook page, which publicises the location of drug detector dogs at railway stations, bus interchanges and events around Sydney.

Officers commented on status updates posted on 29 February and 7 March that advised of drug dogs’ presence at Sydenham and Liverpool stations to insist that the dogs were not there.

“Yeah nothing to see here,” wrote one beneath the February status.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The NSW Greens’ Sniff Off Facebook page, which publicises the location of drug detector dogs at railway stations, bus interchanges and events around Sydney. Photograph: Facebook

“Still nothing,” replied another.

The first then posted a meme in the thread showing a German Shepherd dog at a computer, with the caption reading: “Saw bad man. Bit bad man. End of report.”

The men’s identities have not been publicised by the NSW Greens, but Vice News confirmed that they were officers with NSW police. A third man is also thought to be involved.

The Greens’ justice spokesman, David Shoebridge, on Monday wrote to the NSW police commissioner, Andrew Scipione, to say that the police officers’ conduct was a clear breach of police policies and to request that it be investigated.

NSW police said the officers involved had been spoken to and would be counselled.

In a letter copied to the state police minister, Shoebridge referred to the NSW police force code of conduct and ethics, which states that employees must “behave honestly and in a way that upholds the values and the good reputation of NSW police whether on or off duty”.



Under the policy and guidelines for personal use of social media, officers are also told to abstain from posting about matters that are likely to be currently under investigation – or “any material that may bring the NSW police force into disrepute, or otherwise embarrass the agency”.

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Shoebridge alleged the officers involved were in clear breach of those policies and that he had “very real concerns about the conduct and bona fides of the police involved”, but his desire to protect their identities precluded him from raising the matter in parliament.

He concluded by asking the commissioner if the officers’ posts would be formally investigated; whether the officers were on duty or acting in their capacity as police officers when they posted the false information; and whether they had past or present involvement in drug detection dog operations.

Shoebridge said the officers’ identities had been provided in confidence to the commissioner and the police minister to allow a full investigation.

“We have not publicly released the personal details of the officers in question as we are not interested in a personal witch hunt but in addressing the broader role of the police force in these actions,” he said.

The NSW Greens launched the Sniff Off campaign in October 2014 to lobby against police use of drug detection dogs in public places, which the party says is in breach of civil liberties.

The Facebook page currently has close to 15,000 followers, a significant increase on just under 9,000 in February. Shoebridge told Guardian Australia that the page’s following had grown in size significantly since it featured on a Channel 7 news bulletin on Friday.