More about WA Police

It must have been a quiet weekend in Perth, from the same newspaper comes this..

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Western Australia

Top jobs for the boys as band mates favoured

• by: Anthony DeCeglie
  
• From:The Sunday Times
  
• November 17, 20128:02Pm
  

Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan has given three members of his rock band The Filth new senior gigs in the force.

POLICE Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan has given three members of his rock band The Filth plum new senior gigs in the force.

The Sunday Times can reveal that new Assistant Commissioner Paul Zanetti and new commanders Lawrence Panaia and Jon Tuttle are band mates with the Commissioner. The fifth member of their rock group is a not a police officer.

Mr O'Callaghan yesterday insisted that his band mates had been promoted purely on merit.

But insiders say it has created friction within WA Police and raised eyebrows at senior levels of Government.

Meanwhile, Mr O'Callaghan has copped fresh criticism for ignoring a key recommendation of the 2002 royal commission into police corruption by refusing to advertise the vacancies outside of WA.

Jim McGinty, who was the attorney-general during the royal commission, said the findings were clear that advertising outside the state was essential to preventing the "blue circle of loyalty" among officers.

The Filth, fronted by O'Callaghan, performing to raise funds for Victoria's bush fire victims in 2009.

"It is disappointing if a decade after the royal commission its recommendations are being either overlooked or forgotten," Mr McGinty said.

At a press conference on Tuesday trumpeting the promotions of eight police officers to his new-look senior team, Mr O'Callagan said: "These new appointments were advertised and filled from within the ranks of the WA Police which reflects the talented pool of senior personnel which have developed over many years of service."

Mr Zanetti has been promoted from Commander Specialist Crime and had recently relieved as Acting Assistant Commissioner for Strategy and Performance.

Since 2010 Mr Panaia has been the District Superintendent for the South-West, and Mr Tuttle has been Acting Assistant Commissioner for Judicial Services since October last year.

The overhaul to the police senior command comes after relationships among the top brass were labelled a "basket case" by insiders earlier this year following two Corruption and Crime Commission inquiries into possible misconduct by Mr O'Callaghan.

In both cases Mr O'Callaghan was cleared of misconduct as defined by the CCC Act, however one inquiry pitted his evidence against former assistant commissioner Wayne Gregson and the other against former executive director Greg Italiano.

Both Mr Gregson and Mr Italiano have since moved into senior roles in other government agencies.

In Mr Italiano's case, one of the concerns he raised during evidence to the CCC was that Mr O'Callaghan had misused his corporate credit card in relation to his involvement with The Filth. But the CCC found there was no evidence to support this.

Last night an insider with intimate knowledge of the WA Police top brass said the promotions to his band members had created friction.

"There would be a lot of superintendents who would be a bit disenchanted," he said.

A spokeswoman for Mr O'Callaghan said he declared potential conflicts of interest with several applicants during the recruitment process.

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What can you say......is it a beat up (no pun intended)