“I am devastated about the impact this has had on the reputation of the service, because it does not reflect my values, nor those of the organisation,” said Taylor. Source: QPS, Facebook.
Paul Taylor announced his immediate resignation late last week after it was found he made an inappropriate comment during a QPS inquiry.
Back in April, the Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner made a comment at a conference which referred to his friend as a “vagina whisperer”.
Following the revelation from the inquiry, he stepped down from his position saying he never meant for it to happen.
“It was never my intention to offend anyone, and I am deeply apologetic for the harm it has caused. I was remorseful immediately after the incident, and the Commissioner addressed the matter with me soon after.”
This comment is only one of many that have been revealed as part of an inquiry into domestic violence and culture within the Queensland Police Service (QPS).
Several incidents have come to light including one where at conference in March, the master of ceremonies had obvious cuts and stitches, saying he had a “rough promotional process”.
In the audience was a superintendent who yelled out “Did she shut her legs on you?”.
Another incident was detailed by retired officer Audra Pollard who said that in her lengthy career she would often hear her male counterparts refer to- women who were reporting domestic violence- in an offensive manner.
“I have overheard within the workplace, other police … radio dispatchers and even my senior sergeant … here in the Brisbane communications centre … refer to callers in a derogatory way,” she said in a written statement.
“Oh — that f**kwit has called again … don’t bother sending a crew to that job, she’s just blowing hot air, that sort of thing.”
Other comments heard by a male police officer- who cannot be named- claimed that he overheard senior male officers say things like “domestic violence is just foreplay”, “she’s too ugly to be raped” or “I can see why he does it to her — if I was in his position, I’d do that”.
QPS Commissioner Katarina Carroll has said that these comments come as a shock to her and that “it’s deeply disrespectful and misogynistic” but that she believes that these are only isolated incidents.
“I admit that there are issues within the organisation, I know there are areas of concern that needs a lot of work.”
“[But] most people in the organisation are not like that.
“The majority are doing the right thing … I’m committed to reform.”
