As many as twelve New South Wales police officers have been suspended on charges they sent pornography to colleagues by e-mail, some of which used the system involved in child porn investigations.
The London Daily Telegraph says the suspended officers could face jail terms if convicted. New South Wales police commissioner Peter Ryan has sent a memo to all officers warning them of consequences of abusing police e-mail.
"This is very serious, hard pornography going over a whole range of offensive…material," the memo says. "It is virtually inevitable that employees of any organization will use e-mail systems to communicate and share information with family, friends and colleagues. However, the NSW Police Service will not allow facilities and systems to be used for any illegal or inappropriate activity."
The NSW Police Internal Affairs division started investigating the case when one officer was inadvertently sent porn to his computer terminal. Internal Affairs Commander Mal Brammer tells the Telegraph the probe focused on a "core group" said to have been involved in storing and transmitting the material, which ranged from cartoon images to photographs.
The paper says several NSW police divisions are now installing technology aiming to limit similar e-mail abuses by staff.
