Police investigated an allegation that an officer deliberately obtained and circulated a photo of the publicly displayed court list to draw attention to the identity of a defendant appearing in court that day. The defendant subsequently received name suppression.
The investigation determined the photo was circulated before the defendant’s name suppression order had come into effect; therefore, no criminal offence had been committed.
However, Police found the officer’s behaviour in obtaining and sharing the image breached their code of conduct, this behaviour was addressed via a confidential employment outcome.
The Authority agrees with the findings of the investigation.
IPCA: 22-16085