Pubdate: Thu, 13 Dec 2001 Source: Age, The (Australia) Copyright: 2001 The Age Company Ltd Contact: http://www.theage.com.au/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5 DRUG SQUAD REVIEW DUE TOMORROW MELBOURNE, A report into alleged corruption in Victoria's police drug squad will be handed down tomorrow, Police Minister Andre Haermeyer said today. The report will detail the results of a review into the squad ordered by police Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon. Mr Haermeyer said he did not want to pre-empt the results of the review. "Obviously, there have been concerns about the drug squad, which is why the chief commissioner ordered the review, and what flows out of that will be revealed tomorrow," he told reporters. Ms Nixon ordered the review after Police Ombudsman Barry Perry raised concerns about a number of incidents within the squad, including alleged theft of drugs and documents. The move also followed the charging of a senior drug squad detective over an alleged $3 million ecstasy haul, and separate charges against a former drug squad officer for trafficking. Mr Haermeyer said the review was an internal matter for the Victoria Police, but the government was concerned that police crime squads maintained the highest level of integrity. He said Victoria Police encountered problems from time to time due to the large size of the force. "The Victoria Police is a large organisation of over 10,000 officers, and within that you do have some problems sometimes," he said. "Some of them go to issues of officers doing the wrong thing, some of them are simply organisational issues." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom