Just days after reports surfaced that three WA Police officers who attended Stereosonic in Perth tested positive for drugs the next day, a North Queensland police constable has resigned after allegedly being caught with drugs at the popular EDM festival.
As ABC News reports, the 26-year-old member of the Queensland Police force was one of about 130 people arrested on drug charges at the event, which took place at the Brisbane Showgrounds. She is due to face the Brisbane Magistrates Court on 5th January.
Ethical standards was reportedly investigating the matter but Queensland Police said the woman had since quit the service. “The officer will not be subject of a disciplinary investigation concerning allegations of misconduct due to her resignation,” a statement said.
Police were reportedly left ‘staggered’ following Stereosonic Brisbane. According to ABC News, despite extra security following the deaths of revellers in Sydney and Adelaide, paramedics took 20 punters to Brisbane emergency departments for treatment of drug overdoses.
Meanwhile, the Brisbane Times reports 139 people were arrested during the Brisbane event on Sunday. As Fairfax Media note, the arrest figures were similar to last year when the event was held over two days.
As The West Australian reports, two male and one female constables with the WA Police are believed to have attended the festival’s Perth leg in Claremont last Sunday, the day before investigators visited their homes and forced them to provide urine samples.
Western Australia Police Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan confirmed to Seven West Media the operation was “intelligence” based. “I am aware that they were targeted tests based on intelligence… we had received some information about these officers,” he said.
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The three officers have been stood down amid the launch of a “loss of confidence” process. Mr O’Callaghan said it was “99 percent” likely the officers would lose their jobs and there is potentially “criminal offences involved”.
“At some stage they must have obtained it (the drugs) from somebody… so that is a concern for me,” he said. “There is potentially criminal offences involved. These people are police officers charged with upholding the law.”
“They are carrying lethal force options and they need to be clean and it is my job to make sure that they stay that way.” However, Mr O’Callaghan did not believe the officers could be charged with a criminal offence as they were not legally in possession of the drugs.
While the officers may have ingested the drugs at Stereosonic, there is no proof of this occurring as the positive tests could have been the result of ingesting drugs before or after the event.
