Police watchdog recommends stronger police oversight laws
The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission’s (LECC) 2024-25 annual report was released yesterday with a clear recommendation for a change to the law to ensure it has the tools to complete the work it was established to do. The reforms that the LECC have recommended include; powers to obtain information directly from the NSW Police, removal of delays in the timely sharing of information, and an alignment of powers between the NSW Police and the LECC and the LECC’s own oversight body (the Inspector of the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission).
Greens MP and spokesperson for Justice Sue Higginson said “This report reveals that significant time and public resources are being used in disputes between the LECC and the NSW Police, this is frankly an intolerable situation,”
“The LECC was established to ensure that police are operating with integrity and accountability, so if the Police are preventing that work then the law should be amended to make the oversight powers clearer,”
“These recommendations confirm what we have known for years, the LECC needs expanded powers and clear, unambiguous authority to access the information it needs, when it needs it. Police integrity and accountability cannot depend on goodwill or negotiation,”
“In 2023 I was calling for increased powers and funding for the LECC to fully investigate all reports of police misconduct, and in 2024 I made it clear police investigating police simply does not work - a police force we can trust requires a watchdog with proactive powers and teeth. With this report, the LECC is calling for better accountability reforms themselves,”
“The LECC is doing its best within a broken framework. Instead of focusing on misconduct investigations, it is wasting public time and money debating its own powers with the NSW Police Force,”
“The Minns Labor Government has the opportunity to fix this. They should bring forward simple amendments that end these disputes and restore public confidence in police oversight,” Ms Higginson said.