SEMANA DEL 19 AL 25 DE MAYO

D�a 19 de Mayo

A new cop's on the beat - the police chief

Thirty seven years after he joined the service, Acting Police Commissioner Ken Moroney will tonight go back on the beat as part of a plan to raise police presence on the streets.

About 400 extra uniformed officers are expected to join him in a blitz of the metropolitan area as part of Operation Vikings.

The operation follows a pledge by the Police Minister, Michael Costa, that all serving officers from the commissioner down would do street policing.

The Herald understands that some plain-clothes officers who have not been in uniform for years will be called up for tonight's exercise.

There are also proposals that detectives from Crime Agencies - which investigates major and organised crime - will be put back in uniform from time to time.

Earlier this year, the Opposition described the rostering of the Police Commissioner on patrols as "celebrity beat policing".

Sources from inside and outside the force said yesterday that the sight of more officers might reassure the public, but taking detectives and putting them in uniform was "robbing Peter to pay Paul".

They also questioned what research, if any, had been done to see what the operation might achieve, apart from publicity.

"In terms of visibility, running into Bankstown one night in a year is not going to achieve anything. If you put an extra 20 uniformed police at Bankstown permanently, that might be different," said one.Sources said to go back on the beat, most detectives would need to upgrade their training in the use of batons and capsicum spray.

Another issue is the uniform. The Herald has been told as many as 400 detectives might need a new one. At $1700-$1900 each, the costs could run to more than $700,000.

D�a 22 de Mayo

Corrupt convictions under fire

The NSW Attorney-General, Bob Debus, is preparing to hear appeals from those claiming to have been set up by corrupt officers.

In the past year, the Police Integrity Commission's Operation Florida inquiry has heard that police accepted bribes, ripped off drug dealers and fabricated evidence.

The Government is awaiting advice on how many people are likely to have their sentences quashed or convictions expunged.

During the Wood Royal Commission into police corruption, 100 serving or former jail inmates claimed they were wrongly convicted.

The present PIC inquiry has been examining alleged corruption at Manly and the defunct Northern Region Major Crime Squad.

The load-ups or acts of "noble cause" corruption, specific details of which were not released, came to light last April when the corrupt former Manly Detective Sergeant Ray Peattie was jailed for four years.

Because Peattie made admissions to other crimes and had offered to give evidence against police in cases which have been added to the PIC's Florida investigation, he will be eligible for parole after 12 months.

Mr Debus's spokesman told the Herald yesterday that anyone who felt they had been wrongly convicted by officers found to be corrupt as a consequence of the Florida hearings could directly petition the Attorney-General. They could also make an application to the Supreme Court under an inquiry or review of their sentence of conviction.

Figures released by Mr Debus showed the Attorney-General's department had handled 128 applications since 1993. Forty-three were abandoned by the people who applied and in 77 of the remaining 85 cases it was recommended that no inquiry be held. Only five applications were referred for inquiry.

In five of the royal commission cases referred to the Court of Criminal Appeal the appeal was allowed and the convictions set aside.

D�a 25 de Mayo

When goodies turn bad, the baddies fight back

As officers "roll over" to the Police Integrity Commission, a problem has emerged - what to do about the cases they "solved". Neil Mercer reports.

When Eric Heuston first alleged that NSW police had fabricated evidence against him on a 1992 armed robbery charge, few paid much attention. Even fewer had any sympathy.

After all, he was a notorious criminal and informer - his word was just about worthless.

But recent evidence at the Police Integrity Commission has cast new light on his arrest and that of his brother, Neil Heuston, who does not share his older brother's extensive criminal history.

That evidence highlights an emerging problem. What do the authorities do when detectives involved in dozens of cases over the years admit they have been corrupt?

So far, two of the officers involved in the Heuston case have "rolled over" to the commission, admitting they took drug money and fabricated evidence in other matters.

One of them is none other than the commission's star informer, the detective codenamed M5.

M5 admitted his corruption in 1998 and late that year started secretly tape-recording many of his colleagues.

Those tapes have formed the core of the commission's hearings, which have exposed recent corruption among detectives from Manly and the Northern Beaches, and raised questions about cases going back a decade.

This month, a second officer involved in the Heuston matter admitted that he, too, was crooked. Now codenamed F7, he confessed to taking money from a drug dealer and, more importantly - at least from the point of view of the Heustons - he admitted he had fabricated the record of interview with the dealer.

"We typed the interview in his presence, putting in the answers that we wanted to put in on most occasions or, you know, we'd listen to his answers and adjust them ..."

The evidence of M5 and F7 has also implicated two more detectives involved in the Heuston case as being corrupt. On top of that, a fifth detective involved in "finding" weapons on the property of Eric Heuston in March 1993 was accused of being corrupt during the Wood Royal Commission.

The case is complicated, but essentially both men were charged with robbing a drug dealer at gunpoint in 1992.

Neil Heuston was also charged with sexually assaulting the man's wife.

Ironically, Eric, with his long criminal record and notoriety, was acquitted.

On similar evidence, his younger brother was convicted. Both men have contended from the start that the police fabricated evidence.

The same police also brought separate charges of assault against Neil, Eric and Eric's son, Shane. It was alleged they had assaulted a marijuana dealer, Craig Ronald Goodwin.

Neil and Eric were convicted but Shane Heuston was eventually no-billed because Craig Goodwin - the key witness - told a crown prosecutor his statement about the matter contained fabrications.

According to the prosecutor, Wayne Creasey, he met with Goodwin in May 1999. Goodwin told him: "You blokes don't know everything. You have not been told everything that has gone on. You will probably never be told."

Apparently referring to the police, he said: "They are bad boys. They can make it worse for me than the Heustons can."

Then, while either holding his statements in his hand or pointing at them, Goodwin told the crown prosecutor: "There are fabrications in here."

A legal source familiar with the saga said that while he had little sympathy for Eric, he had real misgivings about the convictions of Neil Heuston.

"I think at the end of the day, his case warrants a judicial inquiry," the source said.

An application by the brothers for such an inquiry under section 474 of the Crimes Act was rejected in August 2000.

Eric Heuston is out of jail and living on the north coast.

Neil, 50, has done nine years and has six to go.

Of the armed robbery matter, Neil said: "They bashed us, they loaded us. As for the [police] notebook I signed - I was belted into signing by [F7]."

Neil's son, Kane, said recently that the family had approached the PIC about the matter early last year but it had appeared that the commission "didn't want to know".

"Every time the police in my father's case get named as being corrupt, our case gets swept under the carpet. All I want is for them to investigate it properly," he said.