Australian cops face dismissal in racist e-mail probe

MELBOURNE - More than 20 police officers in Australia are facing dismissal following an investigation into their involvement in circulating pornographic and racist e-mails through the Victoria police computer system.

As many as 30 officers up to the rank of superintendent were implicated and over 20 of them charged with disciplinary offences that could result in dismissal.

At least 10 officers have been asked to attend internal discipline hearings due Wednesday and Thursday, The Age reported.

A police source said those ordered to appear at the hearings were accused of accessing material “of the most extreme and graphic nature”.

Two policemen have already resigned and one committed suicide after he was suspended.

The charges include disgraceful conduct and failure to comply with a lawful instruction from the Chief Commissioner.

Another group of police implicated over less serious breaches will be dealt with at a divisional level. Investigations into a “small number” of high-ranking police are continuing.

The Ethical Standards Department investigation, code-named Barrot, has tracked hundreds of e-mails that have been circulated through the police network for more than a year.

One of the e-mails at the centre of the investigation contains a graphic image of an ethnic man being tortured. It is alleged the e-mail was sent to several police computers with offensive comments added by some officers. One policeman was found with more than 100 inappropriate e-mails on his work computer.

The Office of Police Integrity is running an operation, code-named Hal, into homophobic, explicit, sexist and racist material circulated on police computers.