Another NSW police corruption scandal

The World Today Archive - Monday, 8 October , 2001 Reporter: Peter Lloyd Eleanor Hall COMPERE: Another corruption scandal is unfolding in the New South Wales Police Force. Seven years after the Wood Royal Commission blew the lid on corruption, it's happening all over again in the Premier State. The new inquiry got underway this morning before the Police Integrity Commission. It's a Royal Commission into the activities of New South Wales officers. So far, the case centres on Operation Florida, a covert undercover sting to catch crooked officers red-handed. Already the packed courtroom has seen scandalous video and audio tapes of corrupt officers doing deals with drug dealers. Peter Lloyd has been in court for The World Today. So Peter, fill us in, what is this case about? PETER LLOYD: Well Eleanor, this is a case - Florida centres on allegations of drug dealing and bribery by police, and today we've learned a new expression, 'green lighting', which is the description that police use when they give approval to criminals to conduct criminal activities in return for money. And apart from 'green lighting', the drug dealing activities on the northern suburbs of Sydney have involved fixing charges to get reduced sentences for suspects, and falsifying records when they've done raids. COMPERE: So now, there was a mention - we mentioned scandalous video and audio tapes. What evidence was the court shown today? PETER LLOYD: Well, three or four tapes have been played so far, and they centre on the activities of two Manly detectives, Dave Patterson [phonetic] and Matthew Jasper [phonetic]. Now in May last year, they were involved in a raid on a drug dealer and they found $40,000 in cash. Patterson, we are told, has kept thirty thousand of it, given 10 back to the drug dealer, and then taken the money back to his mother's place. And he's had a conversation which we've had replayed in court today with an undercover cop, a police officer known as M5, who plays along with Patterson, and there's lots of colourful banter there about how well they've done and how they're now glad they stayed in the Force because this is what it's all about, and what a good day's work it's been. So there was quite a bit of laughter in the gallery, a bit of mirth, but underlaying what is a very serious video which displays the extent of corruption at least in that police station, and if not further out in the Manly area. We saw another tape which was again involving the two starring detectives, Dave Patterson and Matthew Jasper. They went on another raid at the same drug dealer's place. This time they referred to him as having an Aladdin's Cave, and in that they were talking about the amount of money that they could extract from this drug dealer. Now they said to him, we'll do you a deal. If we give you a 'green light', you'll be paying us tax. Everyone has to pay tax, they said, and tax you'll be paying. It went off the rails though because B5, the code name for the drug dealer, went and told his solicitor. His solicitor, an honest broker it seems, said well this isn't right. He told the police, the State Crime Commission. They then enrolled B5, the drug dealer, as an informant, put a recording device on his body and he went off merrily recording the police doing all of these things. And we're being played now a succession of tapes in court where the evidence gets more and more incriminating against both Detectives Dave Patterson and his colleague Matthew Jasper. COMPERE: Does it extend beyond these two? I mean, are we just looking at sort of isolated incidents in the New South Wales Force? PETER LLOYD: Isolated, no. The outlining statement from the lawyers acting on behalf of the Police Integrity Commission made it clear that at the moment we're dealing with the Manly area, but it will extend beyond that. We're told strenuously that Police Commissioner Ryan has been on top of this, has been involved in it from day one. It's been going for at least three years. There's been one particular police officer who's been undercover in the Manly area. This is officer M5, we're told his code name is. M5 is - COMPERE: A lot five's, Peter? PETER LLOYD: M5 - I don't know, may be he lives near a motorway near Sydney. M5 has been out there doing extensive recordings of what the police have been up to, and he's providing the evidence. We'll see him in the court as the case progresses, but at the moment we're hearing audio tapes only. And we've heard in the last few minutes before I came on air, a significant development which is that another tape, between B5, the drug suspect - there's more five's - and two other drug dealers who say they'd been paying Detective Patterson $1,000 a week for a long time to keep themselves out of trouble, and others of their friends have been too. So it appears the evidence now growing against Officer Patterson. COMPERE: Peter Lloyd, thanks very much for that.