SA Police’s multimillion-dollar misconduct payouts spark calls for greater transparency
Civil claims against SA Police have more than quadrupled in three years, yet secrecy laws mean taxpayers remain in the dark about what their $2.46m in payouts actually covered.
SA Police has paid out almost $2.5m in recent years to settle civil claims alleging officer misconduct during the course of duties and vehicle accidents – but the actual cost to taxpayers is likely far higher.
New data – made public under Freedom of Information laws – revealed the law enforcement agency had paid out $1.74m in civil claims over the past five financial years, alongside another $716,763 to cover motor-vehicle accident claims in the same period.
This $2.46m figure represents only the tip of the iceberg, as SA Police admits the data excluded its legal fees and payouts settled quietly by its insurer.
Details of the specific incidents resulting in these payouts are typically kept in the dark due to the strict secrecy provisions of the Police Complaints and Discipline Act, which prevents the publication of internal investigation details unless approved by the Police Commissioner.
However, civil claims against police generally involve individuals pursuing damages for unlawful arrest, assault, battery, false imprisonment, or malicious prosecution.
The data also revealed a sharp upward trend in legal actions against the force.
The number of individual civil claims lodged against SA Police more than quadrupled over the last three financial years, skyrocketing from just nine claims in 2022/23, to 28 in 2023/24, and peaking at 41 in 2024/25.
But an SA Police spokesman told The Advertiser the number of claims lodged do not represent the number of “incidents” in a year.
“The number of claims made in a given year is not necessarily reflective of the number of ‘incidents’ … in that year as the statutory timeframes for making a claim permit some claims to be made some time after the event,” he said.
“It should (also) be noted that the number of claims referred to in the document references the number of claims made, rather than the number of claims where SAPOL was ultimately responsible for loss – that is, sometimes claims are made that don’t have any legal merit.”
The spokesman also characterised the claims as generally harmless, resulting typically from “property damage” or a “personal injury”.
“For example, a property damage claim might be made if police caused damage to a fence while pursuing a suspect who tries to evade them,” he said.
However, Shadow Police Minister Tim Whetstone has called for greater transparency and scrutiny to these claims as the state debt has gone through the roof.
“The minister must come clean on what has led to such a significant increase in these claims,” Whetstone said. “If there is a trend, then the government should be transparent about what it is – and what’s being done to address it.
“At a time state debt is headed to a record $53.7 billion, every expense warrants scrutiny.”
In response, Police Minister Michael Brown said: “We won’t be taking advice on legal proceedings from a political party with so many former MPs currently or recently facing court.”
What an ironic snipe, coming from a Labor MP.
Brown clearly has a short memory.
His boss, the shady Peter Malinauskas, was recently embroiled in a protracted legal saga involving dubious blackmail claims against former Labor MP Annabel Digance and her husband Greg, which triggered a lawsuit by the couple for unlawful and malicious prosecution lawsuit.
A newly-elected Labor MP with the unfortunate name of Hilton Gumbys is currently embroiled in a civil court claim, with allegations his insurer withheld dashcam footage from a car crash he was involved in.
And who could forget
