The Office of Police Integrity
The Office of Police Integrity (OPI) is an independent police anti-corruption and oversight organisation.
Our role is to ensure that Victoria Police maintains the highest ethical and professional standards.
We detect, investigate and prevent police corruption and serious misconduct; examine police practices and procedures to ensure they work effectively; and monitor and review the way Victoria Police investigates or conciliates complaints. This work is carried out with a view to ensuring Victoria Police meets community expectations.
Through education, research and working with Victoria Police, we develop and implement corruption-resistant strategies.
An independent statutory officer, the Special Investigations Monitor, oversees our use of investigative powers. As an independent body, OPI reports directly to Parliament.
Mr Michael Strong, a former Judge of the County Court, is the current Director, Police Integrity. The Police Integrity Act 2008 contains OPI's functions and powers.
The consequences of corruption
Corrupt police do harm to the whole of Victoria Police and to the whole of the Victorian Community. They damage the reputation of their organisation and their colleagues. They stop others from doing the professional and ethical policing work they are dedicated to. They damage the justice system by betraying the community’s trust. Their actions facilitate crime and compromise criminal prosecutions and investigations. All of these effects have an impact on community wellbeing and threaten social order.
The costs of police corruption can be weighed in both financial and social terms. Financial losses include misspent public money on the salaries of police who are ineffective or destructive in their roles, disrupted court cases and the furthering of criminal activity and the ongoing costs of this. The social costs of police corruption and misconduct are evident in the damaging effects of ongoing criminal behaviours, and their effects on social wellbeing.
The cost of corruption is far greater than any potential individual gain. Read a personal account of these costs here.
