Police are investigating about 20 cases of misuse and inappropriate content after an audit of staff use of police devices.
Police are investigating about 20 cases of misuse and inappropriate content after an audit of staff use of police devices.
Police are investigating about 20 cases of misuse and inappropriate content following an audit of staff use of police devices.
This comes after revelations that former Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming used work devices to search for child exploitation and bestiality images.
McSkimming pleaded guilty this month.
Acting Deputy CommissionerJill Rogers said employment processes were under way in some of the cases, while others were at the preliminary stages of investigation.
“We can assure the public appropriate action will be taken in every case and cannot rule out charges if the Solicitor General’s guidelines for prosecution are met,” said Rogers.
“We are unable to comment further while these processes take their course.”
The audit that uncovered these cases was begun when concerns were raised about police information security after McSkimming was found with objectionable material on his work devices.
The summary of facts in the case said some of his search terms included references to animals, incest and underage girls, alongside words such as “slave”, “abuse” and “extreme”.
His first search was on July 1, 2020, which was as far back as the police’s retrievable records went.
Former Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming pleaded guilty this month to charges of possessing child sexual exploitation and bestiality material. Photo / Mark Mitchell
It was found that about a third of the Google searches made on his work phone were adult or pornographic content searches.
Nearly 3000 images accessed by McSkimming were assessed by police as objectionable material, and it is estimated he opened or enlarged about 160 of them.
He also took screenshots of some images.
A report by the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) found misconduct at the highest levels regarding how police responded to separate allegations of sexual offending by the former Deputy Commissioner.
It was also found that two members of the police’s senior leadership team, including former Deputy Police Commissioner Tania Kura, visited McSkimming while he faced charges of possessing objectionable material.
Former Deputy Police Commissioner Wally Haumaha distanced himself from McSkimming after the IPCA report, telling the Herald he wasn’t aware of McSkimming’s affair, or the extent of the allegations against him, because he wasn’t part of former Commissioner Andrew Coster’s “inner circle”.
