04 November 2010

Two Vic cops caught up in drug probe


Two Victorian police officers, who were involved in a relationship and became heroin addicts, are being investigated and may face criminal charges.

The man and woman had both worked as deep undercover operatives for Victoria Police.

The senior constables were arrested and suspended in August, while the male officer has since resigned.

The pair are accused of committing credit card fraud to fund their heroin use but neither has been charged yet.

The case has raised fears the pair's addiction may have put other undercover officers' lives at risk and compromised investigations into criminal gangs.

It has forced a review of all undercover cases, especially those in which they were involved.

Police spokeswoman Senior Constable Jo Stafford confirmed on Thursday that the officers were being investigated by the Ethical Standards Department (ESD), with the assistance of the Office of Police Integrity.

"Victoria Police can confirm that two senior constables are currently suspended from duty pending the outcome of an Ethical Standards Department investigation into drug and dishonesty offences," the spokeswoman said.

"As of today one of the members has tendered their resignation, which has been accepted.

"Given the ongoing nature of the investigation, it would be inappropriate to comment further."

A police source insisted that while they believed the pair were using heroin, it was happening when they were off-duty and had not compromised undercover operations, nor had sensitive information been supplied to criminals.

Footscray police station Inspector Tony Long confirmed that the officer who had quit while suspended was based there.

AAP understands the two officers had been involved in both full-time or deep undercover work - an area some officers work in long-term for up to 15 to 20 years - and temporary, local undercover positions.

They met while in deep undercover policing and also became exposed to drugs while in that field, where their addiction started, a police source said.

The policewoman had been a member of the force for seven years.

"Part of being undercover full-time is investigating serious organised crime and all sorts of areas, some might do it for 15 to 20 years and their neighbours would not know what they did for a living," the source said.

"You might end up a member of the Hells Angels, sitting around while they are doing drugs or something else happens. What do you do?"

4 Nov 2010


Nothing new there, and there are a LOT more than those two, except not all is reported in the mass media, and a LOT are swept under the carpet, depending on the influence.

Victoria Police are considered as one of the MOST CORRUPT Police forces in Australia.

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