The Authority oversaw a Police investigation into an alleged conflict of interest following a vehicle stop in June 2022.
The officer recognised the female driver as someone he had had a historic, casual relationship with. He asked his colleague to deal directly with the driver but drove her car back to the Police station when it was impounded. The officer saw what he thought were drugs and a firearm in the car, and other officers searched the car. While in custody, the woman alleged that the officer was following her and that he wanted to delete some information on her phone.
Police investigated and accepted that the officer’s previous contact with the woman occurred before she became of significant interest to Police, and he had subsequently appropriately managed his conflict of interest. Police also found that the officer searched the woman on the Police database for non-work purposes on one occasion. There was no evidence he had been following her.
The Authority considers the officer should have declared a conflict of interest earlier than he did as it is unclear whether there was an overlap in the period they were in contact and when she came to Police attention. Further, we do not agree that it was appropriate for the officer to drive the woman’s car to the Police station due to their previous association. We agree with Police’s other findings.
IPCA: 22-14768