Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Letter in response -- To Judy Spence MP, Minister for Police

Dear Ms Spence

Thank you for your letter of 10th. -- Ref.: 5627 F3 SD

The police appear to be lying to you.

They have admitted to losing the ID card I handed in but now claim that the ID card owner was a victim, not a thief. If they cannot find the card, how do they know that?

Please ask the CMC to take up carriage of this investigation. I will not rest until there is a proper enquiry into the police handling of this matter.

Yours faithfully,

(Dr.) JOHN RAY (M.A.; Ph.D.)

Thursday, October 5, 2006

Letter to Supt. LM Hopkins, Qld. Police

Dear Supt. Hopkins,

Thank you for your letter of 28th Sept just received.

You amaze me.

The Sergeant investigating the ID card at Dutton Pk told me that the card had been lost.

You now tell me that the owner of the card has been identified.

How?

I understand that police are required to record, catalogue and safely store material evidence that comes into their possession. It seems that this was not done with respect to the ID card.

Please advise what has been done to discipline the officer who failed to do that and what has been done to reinstate respect for correct procedures among those police under your supervision.

An unsatisfactory reply to the above questions will of course lead me to take this matter further.

Yours etc

(Dr) JOHN RAY (M.A.; Ph.D.)

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Second letter to the CMC

Re: MI-06-2277

Dear Sirs/Mesames,

I am appalled at the attitude of the police officers investigating the above matter.

You will recall that I handed in a dropped ID card that I found in my car after the car had been stolen and later found. I handed the card into Dutton Pk station with the expectation that the identfication of the thief/accomplice would enable apprehension of the offenders and recovery of my possessions stolen from the car.

Nothing happened of course. I get the impression that there is an unofficial policy not to investigate car theft. The officer to whom I handed the ID card seemed most uninterested and so does the sergeant now handling the investigation of my complaint at Dutton Pk. He now has informed me:

1). That he has identified and interviewed the female officer who received the card from me.

2). That the card has been lost

He says that he may be able to trace the card owner via computer records but holds out little hope. He also says that if the card owner can be identified he will "send someone to speak to her". What good is that? Such a visit would simply tip off the card owner and might lead to any of my belongings still held being disposed of.

At the very least a search should be mounted of the card owner's premises but the sergeant clearly had no intention of organizing that and resisted my suggestion that he do so.

I request that the female officer who received the card be dismissed for negligence and that a more competent officer be assigned to investigate the matter further.

Yours faithfully,


(Dr) JOHN RAY (M.A.; Ph.D.)

Friday, August 4, 2006

Letter to the Criume and Misconduct Commission

Dear Sirs/Mesdames,

Please find enclosed a letter to the Premier that required timely action but which seems to have been ignored. I have not even received the courtesy of an acknowledgment of receipt.

Given official inaction elsewhere, I feel that you should involve yourselves directly in this matter rather than passing it on to those who clearly do not want to investigate it. The idea of police investigating their own negligence is in any case a considerable absurdity, reminiscent of Sir Joh's era.

I would hope that publicity will not be my only recourse in this matter. If it is, the publicity will now of course involve you.


Yours faithfully,


(Dr.) John J. Ray (M.A.;Ph.D.)

Sunday, July 9, 2006

Letter to the Premier of Queensland

Dear Mr Beattie,

This is a complaint about police inaction in investigating the theft of my car -- inaction I am inclined to draw to the attention of the media. I am particularly peeved that I was able to give the police the identity of one of the thieves but have heard nothing from them about the follow-up that should have resulted from that.

The theft of my Toyota Echo 538-xxx took place on the night of 7-8 of June this year. I reported it to Dutton Pk police on the morning of 8th. Redcliff police notified me that the car had been recovered on 10th and they released the car on 13th. AAMI had the car until 23rd., checking it, cleaning it etc.

When I finally got the car back on 23rd, I discovered among the few remaining contents a library card for a young woman whom I had never heard of . The card was issued by a public library not far from Redcliff. It seemed highly likely that the card had inadvertently been dropped by one of the thieves. I therefore immediately took the card to Dutton Pk police but the policewoman I spoke to was so uninterested that she did not ask me my name nor which car was involved. I left the building rather stunned at that but soon turned around and reapproached her offering the relevant particulars. She did at that point write the particulars down on a scrap of paper but said in effect that the card was of no use as evidence of anything.

I hoped that her attitude would not be decisive so have waited until now to see if there was going to be any follow-up from any other police. Quite a lot of my possessions that were in the car were not recovered so I would have thought that a visit to the card-owner should be accompanied by me so that I could identify any of my belongings that might be found in her possession. I have however heard nothing at all from the police so infer that NO investigation has taken place.

I am of course motivated in this complaint by a desire to recover my possessions as well as wishing to see justice done.

I note that I have made some contributions to the academic literature of criminology and that I have access to a criminal justice blog. As you will no doubt be aware, information posted on a blog becomes public property and is sometimes given wide circulation by the mass media. I feel that you should see the present matter as requiring your serious attention.

Yours faithfully,


(Dr.) John J. Ray (M.A.;Ph.D.)