Claim of corrupt police conduct

Claim of corrupt police conduct
The independent police watchdog is investigating the arrest of a man whose farm was seized under the proceeds of crime act, after claims of corrupt police conduct. Shaun Allen has spent 15 years and a $500,000 Lotto windfall after he came out of jail fighting to clear his name. Mr Allen, who served an 18-month sentence and had his $365,000 Hawke's Bay farm seized after he was convicted of growing marijuana in 1993, says he found evidence of doctored documents and manufactured evidence in the police case. He is planning to apply for a prerogative of mercy, in which the governor-general pardons a person who has been wrongly convicted. "I want to clear my name. When I went to jail it was bad enough, to have my kids come to jail and ask me to come home, that was hard. But even though I'm out, it never leaves me. Day and night, every night, I can't switch it off. I want it to end." Mr Allen had owned his 840-acre farm for just a few months when police raided the property and found 1000 cannabis plants. He has always maintained his innocence and says the crops were being grown by a previous owner or a trespasser. He thinks he was set up by police determined to convict someone. With the help of a team of lawyers and private investigators, he says he has uncovered evidence of corrupt police practice. The Independent Police Conduct Authority has confirmed it is investigating. Police did not return requests for comment. National MP Chester Borrows, a former police officer, said he had seen Mr Allen's evidence and described the case as "very concerning". "There are documents here and procedures here where police have worked well away from the norm," he said.

The concern about allowing the Police to seize peoples property under the proceeds of crime and the drive to lower the legal threshold from beyond reasonable doubt to balance of probabilities is that it builds an incentive for the Police to gather revenue. Now we know the problems this creates with a quota system for traffic tickets, and I imagine the gloves come off with anyone the cops suspect of crime, but the case that needs to be answered here is corrupt police conduct which is an incredibly serious allegation to make, and if someone as staunchly pro cop as Chester Borrows has signaled problems then there really are problems. This could be the first major test of how independent the new police watchdog is and it will be an eye opener to those in the community who act as apologists and defenders of Police in this country.