Cop charged with hacking police system in south-east Queensland
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When asked to explain the jump in accusations, a police spokeswoman would only say police took information privacy very seriously.
“The QPS provides significant training to all members on the use and access to confidential information contained on QPS databases,” she said.
Only one other was suspended in the past year, a 30-year-old male detective senior constable from the Brisbane region in August.
Queensland Police Union secretary Mick Barnes told Brisbane Times earlier this year that not all police accused of hacking into sensitive databases are up to something sinister.
“It is a very grey area,” he said.
“Good intent can lead to hacking accusations and that causes officers to disengage. Then it is the community that suffers because of a lack of appropriate policing.
“It will eventually get to the stage where police are reporting matters to other police because they are fearful of carrying out their sworn duty because of concerns over computer access."
Meanwhile in April, a tribunal found police could have done more to prevent a traffic cop from leaking details of a domestic violence victim to her abuser.
Senior Constable Neil Punchard, 52, was stood down from official police duty late last year.
Gloss