Latest news with #publicintegrity
ABC News
03-07-2025
- ABC News
SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens opens up about 1991 firearm incident
When Grant Stevens was confronted by waiting journalists as he left the ABC's Adelaide studios following a radio interview on Wednesday morning, he smiled wryly. "I'm not armed. It's OK," the SA Police Commissioner said. The quip was in reference to an incident from the commissioner's professional past in which he had, he said, accidentally discharged his firearm during a raid on the house of an alleged drug dealer. A recent newspaper story had drawn attention to the episode, which dates back to the early 1990s when the now-commissioner was a young criminal investigator. Here's a look at what happened, why it has now made headlines, and why an Office for Public Integrity assessment will be conducted. Earlier this week, Adelaide's Sunday Mail newspaper published a report containing allegations relating to a "high-ranking South Australian police officer". The story claimed the officer had accidentally fired their gun while attending a house in the northern suburbs during the 1990s. The article stated that, while no-one had been injured, the officer was now "under investigation over [the] historical claims" — and the report questioned whether details had been "properly disclosed" at the time in accordance with police rules. The officer was not named in the story. On Wednesday, the SA Police Commissioner — who disputed several of the claims made in the article, and insisted the incident had been handled in "accordance with our procedures" at the time — confirmed he was the officer in question. "It was me," he said at the start of the interview on ABC Radio Adelaide. The commissioner said while rigid statutory restrictions typically prevented public reporting about details relating to police complaints and ongoing internal investigations, he was authorising disclosures to stop suspicion falling on others. "In the interests of removing the cloud from other very senior officers in SAPOL … I'm making the decision to say this was me, this is what happened," he said. According to the commissioner, the incident occurred when he was a junior Senior Constable with the Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB) at Elizabeth in 1991. "We were doing a drug raid on a known heroin dealer, and during the course of trying to gain entry to the house, it became apparent he was trying to dispose of the drugs," he said. "On that basis, we started to force entry to the house and in the course of trying to force entry I accidentally discharged my firearm." The commissioner said his supervisor was present at the time and that the police internal investigation branch was notified. "I received what we would call now managerial guidance and that is essentially the same process that would apply to a police officer who found themselves in a similar situation today," he told ABC Radio Adelaide. The Sunday Mail reported there had been a second incident "several months later" in which the commissioner had again accidentally fired his gun — a claim he strongly rejected. "I'm aware of the incident they're referring to but there was no discharge of a firearm," he said. "It didn't happen twice. There has only ever been one occasion that I have accidentally discharged my firearm." On Wednesday, the commissioner was asked about the fact that the incident had publicly surfaced after more than three decades, and whether he thought it was part of an attempt to undermine him. The source of the story, he said, could have been someone who either had "access to records regarding the incident" or actually attended. "I know who was there on the day — I consider most of those people friends, so I don't know it would be them," he said. The commissioner later said he could not speculate "on the motivations for whoever relayed this incident to a journalist". "There are always going to be detractors for people who have positions of responsibility in the community," he said. But he added that he did not find the revelation "damaging" and that he had never "shied away from" discussing it with other officers. "I've actually relayed the story on occasions over the last 34 years for different reasons to let other police officers understand how fragile circumstances can be," he said. "It serves as a lesson to the community that policing has inherent risks in it, mistakes do happen." The commissioner said that, because of the way in which the incident had resurfaced, authorities were now duty-bound to carry out a formal assessment. "If you ask questions of the South Australia Police and in the context of that question there's an allegation of wrongdoing, we must in accordance with the act treat it as a complaint," he said. "Our ethical and professional standards branch have received the information … so they are bound to do an assessment." That process would, he said, be overseen by the Office for Public Integrity. "I'm happy to speak to our investigators if they need to do so," he said. "People who act in good faith generally aren't adversely affected by those actions."
CBS News
23-05-2025
- Business
- CBS News
San Francisco launches review of parks nonprofit accused of misusing millions in funds
San Francisco city officials announced Friday that a "public integrity assessment" will be conducted on the San Francisco Parks Alliance, amid reports that the nonprofit improperly spent millions of dollars. City Attorney David Chiu said he and City Controller Greg Wagner will conduct the joint review of the group's finances and its agreements with city departments. The review was requested by Mayor Daniel Lurie's office, the city's Recreation and Park Department and the Port of San Francisco. "The public reports of financial mismanagement at the Parks Alliance are extremely troubling," Chiu said in a statement. "Any contributions meant to benefit the public should be used for that purpose." Wagner added, "The serious allegations we're hearing about Parks Alliance need to be addressed with urgency." According to Chiu, the Parks Alliance raises money for minor civic improvements and large-scale construction on public spaces. The group has agreements with the Recreation and Park Department along with the Port for these purposes. Chiu said many of the funds raised under the agreements can only be used for city-approved projects and cannot be used for Parks Alliance staff salaries or other unrelated administrative overhead. A recent report by the San Francisco Chronicle found the group used at least $3.8 million earmarked for public projects to instead cover its own operating costs. The group's former CEO and CFO have departed. Donors along with families who rely on city parks have expressed outrage over the allegations. One of the largest donors, the Baker Street Foundation, told CBS News Bay Area that it contributed $3 million to the organization to build two playgrounds at Crane Cove Park in the city's Dogpatch several years ago, but the projects have not materialized. Nicola Miner, part of the Baker Street Foundation board, said she learned only recently that $1.9 million of the donated funds had reportedly been spent on general expenditures. "I wanted a park here, that was what our money was for. The money was not for general operating expenses. And so, I just feel a real sense of betrayal," she told CBS News Bay Area. Miner said the greatest loss is felt by local families who had counted on the playgrounds for their children. "The fact that they took money away from families, I'm speechless. I actually can't even believe somebody would do that," she added. In the meantime, Lurie has instructed city departments to pause any outstanding grants to the Parks Alliance and has directed city departments not to enter into any new partnership agreements with the group.
