The Idiots from South Australia Police Can’t Even Run a Band Without Constant Problems

SAPOL’s music band has been in the news a lot lately, and for all the wrong reasons.

The first question that begs asking is why does a police force need idiots marching around playing trombones and drums?

Police are supposed to fight crime, not act out their pop star fantasies.

Maybe if SAPOL focused on chasing real criminals, SA wouldn’t be experiencing a disturbing increase in the crime rate.

An internal report published by Task Force PORTUS in July 2018 examining the band’s wellbeing has found it faced “bullying and discrimination” from management amid failings within its operation.

The report was tendered in evidence at the inquest into the death of long-serving police officer Sergeant Russell Peter Nash – a father of two who took his own life on Christmas Eve 2021 – after alleged bullying by a supervisor.

The report’s authors spoke to 33 of the 35 band members at the time and proposed more than 30 recommendations as the health and wellbeing of the band hit “crisis point”.

Two recommendations included removal of two management figures within the band including then Officer in Charge, Senior Sergeant Alwin Kidney, and drum major Sergeant Adam Buckley, entirely from the band.

The report outlines that during the investigations by TFP in May 2018, Sgt Buckley published a meme that said “Adam” would not “let other people walk over him”.

“This is Adam. Adam has a very low tolerance for bulls**t. Adam will not let other people walk over him. Be like Adam,” the meme read.

A month later, Sgt Buckley – who did not select songs for the band ensemble to play – introduced to the ensemble “off the cuff” Elton John’s song ‘I’m Still Standing’.
“The members saw this as a direct taunt to the investigation and goading the band members,” the report states.

State Coroner David Whittle released the report to The Advertiser amid the ongoing inquest.

Following the report, Senior Sgt Kidney was removed from the band, while Sgt Buckley was demoted – and later reinstated to his management position by Chief Inspector Cameron Devey during Sgt Nash’s time there.

The inquest is due to resume in February next year.

The report, released before Sgt Nash joined the band, outlined numerous detailed complaints about Sgt Buckley and Senior Sgt Kidney – who also voiced concerns about the former’s behaviour and called him a “bold and brazen bully”.

“Buckley has been described as the ‘cancer in the band’, a sociopath, bully who is sarcastic and instils fear in the band,” the report said.

“Members feel that they are always spoken down to by Buckley; he is sneaky and malicious, deliberately undermines members, he is spiteful and leaves everyone on edge. There is no trust. He always needs to be the leader and act like the tough guy.

“Each individual incident may not on their own seem very serious however cumulatively the ongoing incidents have had a monumental effect on all the members.”

One such incident occurred during a trip to the United Kingdom to perform at the Queen’s 90th birthday where Sgt Buckley “screamed and berated the band and accused them of sabotaging the performance”, with such “furiousness” every band member spoke to TFP about it.

“In reality Buckley had dismissed a smaller performance and when he realised they would be performing to 14,000 people he panicked,” the report said.

“The incident has left many of them feeling emotional and a sense of worthlessness; it continues to damage confidence and morale.”

Further allegations against Sgt Buckley of “disgraceful, malicious and dangerous” behaviour towards former Director of Music Michael Dowrick – a world-renowned conductor who believed the band could become the “best in the world”.

Mr Dowrick said he left SAPOL in 2016 as he could “no longer suffer the bullying by Sgt Buckley” who “undermined” him daily.

The report found Sgt Buckley lost his access to the digital diary over concerns he was manipulating the rosters to benefit his partner, Constable Natasha Rush, a member of the band.

During his interview with TFP, the report author noted Sgt Buckley “spoke about himself and his achievements for the majority of the conversation.”

“He spoke quickly and incessantly, avoided direct questions and had a distinct lack of awareness of the emotional wellbeing of his staff,” the document said.

“He had to be reminded and guided back to talk about issues within the band.”

Sgt Buckley also told TFP he thought he “got along well” with Senior Sgt Kidney and Mr Dowrick and “was surprised that people did not approve of his management style”.

It was further noted Sgt Buckley was promoted under an “exemption to hold formal qualifications for rank” and he had no qualifications in drill or policing practice.

Other issues outlined by the report included regimented lunch breaks in facilities not designed for the number of staff, “archaic” and “dictatorial” roll calls, lack of post-performance debriefs and training – including in general policing, individual performance managements, hierarchical issues and a “clear unwillingness of management to change”.

The Police Band, which was established in 1884, plays at events across the state – and sometimes internationally. The Band members – who are employed full-time – plays at hospitals, schools, and big South Australian events, such as the Pageant.

Members also told TFP Sgt Buckley refused to attend rehearsals, which went against “all good musicians’ practice ethics”.

When asked questions about the Police Band by The Advertiser, SAPOL declined to comment citing the ongoing inquest into Sgt Nash’s death.

‘They didn’t believe all the claims’: Sergeant addresses PORTUS report

The SA Police Band drum major at the heart of a damning internal review into the culture of the band has told an inquest he was never made aware of the full allegations against him.

In the bombshell review by Task Force PORTUS in July 2018, Sergeant Adam Buckley was accused of bullying band members for years before the internal report was published – but he claims he never received a copy.

While on the stand during the inquest into the death of “dedicated” Sergeant Russell Nash -who took his own life on Christmas Eve 2021 after alleged bullying by a supervisor – Sergeant Buckley claimed then Assistant Commissioner Peter Harvey spoke to him directly and “did not believe” the full allegations.

“From what I can recall of the meeting with Assistant Commissioner Harvey, he waved the document in front of me and said ‘if I was to believe everything in this document, you would be gone. I don’t believe everything, there’s got to be more to it’,” Sergeant Buckley told the inquest.

Sergeant Buckley claimed the Assistant Commissioner explained the contents of the report to him without specific details and had only been provided a short two-page summary of the almost 30-page report.

“Basically he said to me the allegations were that I’ve made an uncomfortable workplace, that I was a bully and in the opinion of the paper the only solution was to move me out of the band,” he said.

The court heard despite being unaware of the extent of the allegations, Sergeant Buckley made a lengthy public apology to the band in 2020, which he told the court he “stood by”.

“I take the responsibility, I make no excuses or justifications for past actions but pledge to make a change,” a transcript of the apology read.

“I’m not perfect, no one is, I will likely make mistakes again from time to time but that’s only human. I however don’t want those mistakes to become the norm again.”

Task Force PORTUS’ review has been tabled as evidence for the inquest, and was released exclusively to The Advertiser.

Sergeant Buckley claimed he was told not all of the 33 recommendations would be accepted because some were “unlawful”.

When asked about the allegations of “berating” the band during the Queens Birthday performance trip to London, Sergeant Buckley said he could have chosen his “time and words better”.

“We were doing a rehearsal for an upcoming performance which wasn’t going well,” Sergeant Buckley said.

“The band knew it wasn’t going well, and the pressure was on that we were on the other side of the world having to deliver something the next day.

“The beratement was ‘people need to lift their game and not be worried about which pub they’re going to in 20 minutes’ time’.”

The inquest continues next year.

This is the kind of crap your tax money funds, people. If people want to listen to music, it is freely available on the internet and radio. Taxpayers should not be funding a clown show ensemble that has been hijacked by a widely-despised nutcase like Adam Buckley.

Source

Leah Smith. ‘Cancer in the band’: Inquest releases report on high-level bullying within SA Police Band. The Advertiser.