Nowhere Safe to Report?

CONTENT WARNING: This episode discusses allegations of sexual misconduct, workplace power imbalance and fear of reporting within policing. The allegations discussed have not been tested in court and have not been independently established. Identifying details have been deliberately withheld.

A detailed anonymous email lands with Badge of Betrayal, containing serious allegations involving a serving female police officer and a more senior colleague.

But this episode is about something bigger than one allegation.

What happens when a police officer believes the person they may need to report has more power inside the organisation than they do? Who can they safely turn to? And what happens when serious information is known inside an organisation, but never becomes a formal complaint?

We also return to our anonymous serving officer “Tom”, who tells us about something he describes as an “off-book investigation” — raising new questions about how allegations can be handled inside Tasmania Police and what records should exist when serious concerns are raised.

As the Parliamentary Inquiry into Tasmania Police responses to allegations of officer misconduct continues, we ask a fundamental question: can a junior police officer report someone at the top and genuinely believe there will be no repercussions?

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If anything raised in this episode affects you or someone you know, help is available.

State-Wide Sexual Assault Support Line — 1800 697 877