I want to take this opportunity to clarify a few issues arising from the Queensland Audit Office (QAO) performance audit on criminal justice data.
It has been reported in some media outlets today that the Queensland Police Service (QPS) has been ‘fudging’ or ‘rorting’ crime statistics and that there is a culture of ‘cover-ups’.
I want to be very clear – nothing could be further from the truth.
A thorough reading of the report spells out that the QAO found no corrupt behaviour, systemic or otherwise, during its audit of our crime data.
Yes – the audit found several deficiencies but they are procedural and process anomalies linked directly to the complexity of the environment our officers work in every day. An environment that is rapidly changing.
I am not trying to downplay these issues, but would merely like to put this into context.
And, I am not sugar-coating the issue – there are clearly things
