AAP General News (Australia)
02-19-2008
Vic: Top cop Nixon fudged police numbers, Ashby says
MELBOURNE, Feb 19 AAP - Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon secretly
increased the number of non-operational police at the expense of frontline positions,
former assistant commissioner Noel Ashby says.
The bitter attack by Mr Ashby on his former boss comes after he resigned from the force
during an Office of Police Integrity (OPI) inquiry.
He may face charges of perjury and misconduct, which he has vowed to fight.
Transit police, which patrol Melbourne's trains, had been cut by 28 per cent since
Ms Nixon took over as chief commissioner, Mr Ashby told the Herald Sun newspaper.
Over the same period, the number of traffic police had been cut by 13 per cent, the
force response unit (which provides back-up to uniformed police) had been cut by 50 per
cent.
At the same time, Ms Nixon had appointed "hundreds" of officers to non-operational
advisory or liaison roles and allowed hundreds more to take leave without pay, further
stretching resources.
Mr Ashby said he helped draw up a plan to cover up the figures and spin the story if
journalists or the Police Association found out.
"The cuts in transit and traffic police came at a time when the government had provided
funding for 1,400 extra police, which it quite properly expected would firstly go into
operational areas," he told the Herald Sun.
"Yet there is an expansion of gay and lesbian liaison officers, more multicultural
officers, youth advisory officers, and increases in other mainly administrative, non-operational
areas.
"When we don't have enough troops to staff a booze bus or divvy van and we often don't
you can't take a gay and lesbian liaison officer to do it because the industrial platform
doesn't allow this.
"It's not acceptable that after nearly eight years of Christine being Chief Commissioner,
these anomalies still exist."
Retired judge Supreme Court judge Murray Wilcox has recommended Mr Ashby, Police Association
boss Paul Mullett and former police media director Steve Linnell face charges after their
phones were tapped.
Mr Wilcox's report, tabled in state parliament last month, said Snr Sgt Mullet had
conspired with Mr Ashby to undermine Ms Nixon.
It also said he wanted to replace Ms Nixon with Mr Ashby, who would be his "puppet"
commissioner, which Mr Ashby and Snr Sgt Mullett deny.
Mr Ashby said that he was now revealing the damaging information showed the OPI's claim
he was helping to undermine Ms Nixon was spurious.
AAP jrd/imc/
KEYWORD: OPI ASHBY
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