Latest news with #PublicIntegrity
ABC News
23-05-2025
- ABC News
SA Police internal inquiry into Davenport incident finds allegations of excessive force 'not substantiated'
An internal inquiry overseen by the Office of Public Integrity has found allegations a SA Police officer, who has since resigned, used "excessive force" when dragging a man along concrete during an arrest "were not substantiated". WARNING: This story contains footage of an incident that readers may find distressing. In November, two videos emerged showing a man being shoved into a wall by a police officer before being dragged through a front yard at Davenport, near Port Augusta, in the state's north. The videos, which were shared on Facebook, showed a man talking to police before being pushed to the wall with force, causing him to collapse onto the ground. The second video showed the man being dragged along a concrete path before he was arrested by a police officer. "The complaint related to two allegations that police used excessive force and one allegation about the use of unprofessional language," a statement released by SA Police said. "Subsequently, the two allegations of excessive force were not substantiated, however the allegation about the use of unprofessional language was substantiated." The statement confirmed the police officer subject of the inquiry had since resigned from SAPOL — but for unrelated reasons. "The officer has since resigned from SAPOL to pursue alternative employment, however that decision was unrelated to the incident or this inquiry," it read. "Had the police officer involved not resigned from SAPOL, it is likely they would have been subject to management resolution under the Police Complaints and Discipline Act." SA Police also confirmed the Office of Public Integrity had been overseeing the inquiry. The ABC has contacted Attorney-General and Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Kyam Maher's office for comment.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump DOJ Considers Making it Easier to Indict Members of Congress
The Trump Justice Department, under Attorney General Pam Bondi, is weighing a move that could end the Public Integrity Section's power to oversee indictments of members of Congress, potentially opening the door to politically motivated prosecutions, The Washington Post reports. If the proposed changes go through, U.S. attorneys — positions appointed by the president — could indict members of Congress without the sign off from attorneys in the Public Integrity Section (PIN), reducing the office's ethical watchdog role. Prosecutors would no longer need to consult PIN at key points during investigations and prosecutions of public officials in all three branches of government, including federal, state, and local lawmakers as well as judges. The PIN was established following the Watergate scandal 'in order to consolidate in one unit of the Criminal Division the Department's oversight responsibilities for the prosecution of criminal abuses of the public trust by government officials,' the DOJ's website states. PIN also 'supervises the nationwide investigation and prosecution of election crimes.' According to the paper, a source confirmed the proposed change is being reviewed but has not yet been decided. In March, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Federal Courts, raised the alarm in a letter to Bondi requesting information about the dismantling of PIN after The Associated Press reported DOJ had reduced the size of the office from 30 prosecutors to around five. Some of the reductions in staff came from resignations among PIN leadership when a top DOJ official directed prosecutors to drop corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams. 'Any move that further weakens the Public Integrity Section would signal that the Trump Department of Justice intends not to protect the American people against corruption,' the Rhode Island Democrat wrote. 'Created in response to Watergate, the Public Integrity Section exists to ensure that the Department of Justice fairly and thoroughly investigates corruption by government officials at the federal, state, and local level without regard to those officials' political views or allegiances. This Section has steadfastly pursued justice against both Republicans and Democrats.' PIN prosecutors have been involved in the Adams corruption investigation and indictment and the prosecution of former Democratic senator Bob Menendez, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison for corruption-related charges. The office also intervened when now former interim U.S. attorney Ed Martin sought to prosecute Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for remarks he made about two Supreme Court justices years before. PIN attorneys told Martin that the comments were not a prosecutable threat, according to multiple Post sources. 'This is part of a shift in limiting the power of law enforcement experts in public corruption,' Georgetown Law professor and former PIN attorney Paul Butler told the paper. More from Rolling Stone Scott Bessent Compares Trump's Qatari Jet Gift to the Statue of Liberty Bruce Springsteen Again Calls Out 'Unfit President' Trump at Second Manchester Concert 'SNL' Cold Open: Trump Bails on Sketch to Flirt With Audience Best of Rolling Stone The Useful Idiots New Guide to the Most Stoned Moments of the 2020 Presidential Campaign Anatomy of a Fake News Scandal The Radical Crusade of Mike Pence
