A critical incident investigation is launched when a civilian or police officer suffers serious injury or death in the course of a police operation.
Incidents examined by the PIC'sProject Harlequin included thedeath of Brazilian student Roberto Laudisio Curti,theshooting death of mentally ill man Adam Salter,and the death ofSteven Bosevski,who was restrained by police while watching a St George Dragons game in 2010.
Standard guidelines for examining critical incidents include that it must be investigated by a command not involved in the incident,officers must be separated at the earliest possible opportunity,and mandatory drug and alcohol testing must be done.
To begin with,the PIC found a disturbing lack of documentation kept by police in two thirds of cases,hampering the PIC's ability to assess the response.
Conflicts of interest were considered in only 33 per cent of investigations,despite it being a mandatory guideline.
While there was a high rate of compliance with mandatory drug testing,there was a"worryingly low rate of compliance with other requirements".