In December 2017, Mr X and Mr Y were involved in an altercation following a traffic incident. Mr Y laid a complaint against Mr X later that day.
Police spoke to Mr X about the complaint in January 2018. Mr X stated that shortly after the incident he spoke to his friend, Officer A, about the incident while at their social club. Officer A was off-duty at the time.
Mr X said he provided Mr Y's vehicle registration details to Officer A who looked them up on his Police cell phone. Officer A then showed him Mr Y's photograph and made adverse comments about Mr Y's criminal history.
Police conducted an employment investigation into Officer A's actions
Officer A accepted that he knew Mr X socially and had showed him Mr Y's photograph during the discussion at their social club. He said he did this to help Mr X confirm Mr Y's identity to enable Mr X to make a complaint about Mr Y.
Officer A denied making any specific comments about Mr Y's criminal history. Police accepted it was unlikely Officer A would have disclosed a traffic matter which occurred more than 35 years ago.
• Officer A had a conflict of interest and should not have involved himself in the matter.
• Officer A should not have shown Mr X Mr Y's photograph. This breached Mr Y's privacy and was an unauthorised use of the Police database.
Officer A was found to have made an error of judgment and Police took appropriate action.
The Authority reviewed the Police investigation and agreed with the outcomes.
IPCA: 17-1736