26th May 2023
In the Herald Sun of 25/05/2023, there is an article referring to the charging of a former Police Sergeant, Mark Sims, with Misconduct in Public Office and other offences for writing a message on a whiteboard at Kyneton Police Station in November 2020, “beware of the rats”.
Ultimately the charge of Misconduct in Public Office was withdrawn, and the only remaining charge was dealt with when Sims admitted to a single charge of causing disaffection among police officers.
While in no way condoning the actions of Sims, the fact of Sims being charged with Misconduct in Public Office is a cause for concern.
Over the past eight years, the Community Advocacy Alliance Inc.(CAA) has continually referred to actions of members of the Government that, in our view, clearly constitute Misconduct in Public Office only to hear that this offence was too difficult to prove for charges to be laid.
If writing “beware of the rats” on a police station whiteboard was considered sufficiently serious for the laying of a Misconduct in Public Offence charge, how is it that no politician has been similarly charged?
Incidents warranting such a charge range from the notorious Red Shirts Rort to the treatment of Ian Cook and ICook Foods, with many instances in between. In particular, the issue surrounding the Quarantine debacle, which allegedly resulted in the death of over eight hundred people. Nobody was held accountable, let alone charged with any offence.
Clearly, double standards are being applied. Those authorities who have repeatedly failed in their duty to the public to hold politicians and Public Officers to account should themselves be considered to have committed Misconduct in Public Office.
For how long are we expected to tolerate these double standards?
Victoria is clearly a full blown Communist State.
We can rage all we like but our outrage is ineffectual as the political class and its beauracracy have an iron grip on the hearts and minds of deluded citizens.
In the Victorian Gulag everything revolves around supporting the Andrews regime, the public service, the Judiciary, VicPol and the beauracracy at large are all beholden to this corrupt cabal of a government.
Nothing will change.
And the upcoming referendum “the voice” is going to make it a WHOLE. LOT WORSE”
goodbye to Oz , hello dictatorship
Correct and well written comment
Unfortunately the Victorian alp is over run with sewer rats. Any sitting labour member in this state who truly believes in Todd governance and ethics would stand up regarding Andrews and his gross misuse and abuse of public office. Jim and his co rats have been deliberately placed to infest every institution from Victor to worksafe to the judiciary. Note the funding cuts again to independent scrutiny bodies in the recent budget. Beware of the rats?….how about Victorians having the sense to exterminate them at the ballot box and the so called opposition start calling them out..making official complaints more often and demanding royal commission. As for the greens and the cross bench….who do you actually represent as you sure don’t stand for decency?
Victoria Police is more concerned with their gender bending and feel good
issues rather than dealing with the matters which really concern all Victorians.
While the gangs and the drugged up crooks pillage and plunder, the powers worry about some thing written on a white board. Just rub it off and get on
your bike and do the job you were employed to do.
Hurt feelings and small bruised egos and cuddles for the so called oppressed.
The police force is not a child care centre. When singed up for the job it should be obvious their is no room for oh poor me. Resilience, strength,
not softly softly feel good. The adverts for the police force are pathetic and give no indication of what the job rally entails, made worse by a pandering
politically biased command.
You don’t obviously understand how members torment their own… you can have the thickest skin but if they want to torment you they will make up many insidious lies. Kyneton police station certainly has shitful cops in their ranks
Welcome to the birth of the new Nazi Party. Oh sorry…the fascists don’t like us using that word…only they can use that one. I know!!! Welcome to the birth of totalitarian rule. No double standards to see here, move along. See…now everyone is happy. Or else!
I recognise the intent of this article. Unfortunately, a single incident, partially resolved, missed the vital point of “why” the words were used. The frustration behind the words needs exposing with anonymity of course.
Could the Code 9 Fnd. supply a number of similar instances of a particularly injurious toxic use of power that has a pattern of abuse and harm against members be exposed by actual figures?
The words were being used as part of deplorable behaviour towards members having the intestinal fortitude to rightly call out corrupt behaviour. The subject of these charges used his position as a leader to target members who had called out and reported the corrupt behaviour, which is before the courts as we speak.
This story doesn’t actually delve into the issues that were impacting that whole area and the involvement of said member and what the remark referred to.
At least Eddy Obeid and Mr Ian McDonald, both former NSW Labor Ministers were charged, found guilty and jailed for perversion of the course of justice. Obeid lost all his appeals whereas McDonald had his conviction overturned with a re-trial ordered. In July 2021 Mr McDonald was found guilty again and sentenced to jail where he currently resides along with Mr Obeid.
Most of us have a lifetime of “real life “ experiences. I have watched the “conditioning” of society via education facilitators and political parties infiltrating the minds of the public (especially our children) with their hidden agendas to the point that their beliefs become accepted as being the norm.
Then when things “go pear shaped” they then deflect the blame or refuse to accept responsibility. An occasional soft target/scalp will keep the radicals at bay- as long it is not one of them.
The State Gov, the opposition, the public service, vicpol, they’ve all been corrupted by the Andrews Gov. I don’t mean that they take bribes (well I hope they don’t) but that they know what their political masters want and take the actions that will please their masters. This is how many low trust, corrupt societies operate.
They know that they won’t get promoted or will be sidelined into a dead end position if they don’t provide ‘a safe pair of hands’ for those who dispense the fruits of government. Do you really think that anyone who wasn’t fully on board with pleasing Andrews would be promoted into a senior position?
The hard question is ‘How to unwind the corrupt mess?’
I’d say the only officers who got upset from a silly comment on a whiteboard must have been the “rats” Mark Sims was referring to perhaps??
It is disappointing that Vicpol see fit to utilise such a charge simply to punish – so much more could be achieved by the executive by engagement rather than the “big stick” for what is really a trivial matter
The country has to start with a new clean fresh broom, & not vote for either party as they both are guilty of selling our country out . Whether that be in Morals or financially ( of which I honestly don’t know which of the 2 is the biggest problem), and also of the aversion to holding those who do the wrong thing to account . BOTH of these parties need to be held to account for their passed & current wrong deeds.