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WA Police have reacted angrily to allegations they may have unlawfully accessed the personal files of former West Coast stars Ben Cousins and Daniel Kerr on their internal computer system.
WA Police Union president George Tilbury told Radio 6PR the alleged incidents were a minor matter and should be dealt with internally and quickly.
"The announcement of an inquiry has been heavy-handed and over-the-top," he told 6PR host Gary Adshead.
"There's no suggestion there has been any corruption or criminal conduct or that any benefit was gained."
Mr Tilbury said the system hundreds of police were said to have accessed did not contain personal information or individual records.
"It's an incidents-based system. The information is only about incidents that are in progress," he said.
"Police are entitled to know what's happening, especially on events that may be moving across a number of suburbs in the metropolitan area."
Mr Tilbury called on Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan to provide full disclosure on the allegations against police officers.
"We believe many officers could be eliminated from this inquiry to prevent a waste of time and resources," he said.
"There may be a few officers who took a look, who shouldn't, and they may have some explaining to do, but that could be dealt with adequately by internal disciplinary processes."
Mr Tilbury said if the inquiry proceeded along lines proposed by management, police officers could become too intimidated to use the computer system to effectively police.
WA police face investigation
An internal police investigation is under way after what acting Police Commissioner Stephen Brown called disappointing behaviour by a "large number of police employees".
The investigation will examine how many officers might have accessed the police dispatch system to get updates on investigations into the two former footballers over separate alleged offences.
"The community can rest assured that we hold their information in high regard and will conduct investigations into all suspected breaches of our computer systems," the acting commissioner told The West Australian.
Any officer convicted of unauthorised computer use could face up to a year in jail, or a $12,000 fine. But officers can be jailed for up to a decade if the information they access is used to gain a benefit.
Mr Tilbury said the officers had done nothing more than demonstrate a "professional curiosity" in the ex-AFL stars and there was no suggestion of any corruption.
"WA Police are setting a dangerous precedent going down this path of potentially criminally charging hundreds of officers just for looking at a job on the police computer," he said.
Cousins faced a Perth court earlier this month on charges of reckless driving, failing to stop and refusing a breath test, stemming from an incident in March when he allegedly led police on a low-speed chase from Bicton to Mosman Park.
Kerr is facing separate charges, pleading not guilty to two counts of endangering the life, health or safety of a person after an alleged violent incident at a Glendalough home in November.
State gaps in privacy laws
A Curtin University law academic said that the actions allegedly committed by hundreds of police officers were not covered by any overarching state legislation on the privacy of personal information.
Lecturer Anna Bunn of the Curtin University Law School said police had their own privacy policy. This related to the situations in which personal information could be disclosed, as well as to the security of information.
"Alleged breaches of that policy should be referred to the Office of Information Management of the WA Police or the Assistant Commissioner, Professional Standards and Investigation, but can be referred on to the Ombudsman if necessary, she said.
Ms Bunn said that there was some legislation – such as the Freedom of Information Act 1992 (WA) - that regulated certain aspects of personal information.
"For instance, it allows a person to access and amend their personal information in certain circumstances. However, it doesn't cover broader aspects of the way in which personal information is collected and used.
"Most state government agencies would have policies directing how personal information could be accessed and protected," she said.
A number of other states and territories already have legislation relating to information privacy - NSW, Victoria and Tasmania.
Ms Bunn said that many organisations and agencies did have their own complaint mechanisms where a person could complain about a perceived breach of its policy.
"If that complaint was unsuccessful, a person could refer the public sector organisation to the Ombudsman.
Ms Bunn believed that another option was to for the State Information Commissioner to be given broader scope to address systemic issues relating to the management of personal information by government agencies.
"A broader remit would allow the commissioner to work closely with those agencies to improve their privacy culture and the way in which personal information is managed and accessed," she said.
Large private companies with a turnover of more than $3 million a year were covered by federal privacy legislation.
"The privacy gaps are more visible with state agencies rather than the private sector," Ms Bunn said.
