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Reference to figure 1 (page 79) indicates the pivotal position and role in the process to be occupied by the Target Development Team, which combines in one small team of five persons the disciplines of intelligence analysis, financial analysis and
investigation. As will be emphasised here, this anti-corruption strategy within the Commission’s operation will be proactive and intelligence-driven in its work rather than be reactive and complaint-driven. It is, therefore, essential that the Target Development Team and its work provide the catalyst for much of the investigative work. It is important that its role structure and dominant thrust be clearly understood. Staffing of any target development function should consist of two investigators, two intelligence analysts and a financial analyst, to reflect the joint ownership and importance of the initiative to both the Official Misconduct and Intelligence Divisions. These officers would liaise closely with intelligence analysts supporting tactical operations, and would draw from material generated through these as well as historical data. The Target Development Team would have, as its primary function, the identification of those who should become the subject of proactive investigation. Any proposal for specific staffing levels with regard to both Intelligence and Official Misconduct Division officers is governed by several external factors which affect the future of the Commission as a whole, but the deployment of two analysts, two
investigators and a financial analyst is seen as an appropriate resource allocation to initiate the proactive strategies which have been discussed by Shield management and staff in recent times and which are set out above.
Information and intelligence concerning police involvement in corrupt activity come to the Commission from four main sources — complaints, intelligence sources, information acquired in the course of investigations and information provided by other sources and law enforcement agencies. It will be the task of the Target Development Team to draw on all of this information and intelligence in order to execute its main function.
The proper working relationship between the Target Development Team and the Complaints Assessment Unit needs to be spelt out. The Intelligence Division already has close liaison with that unitand obtains a copy of the schedule of complaints, which are prepared daily. To ensure proper integration between the Complaints Section and the proposed anti-corruption unit, the Intelligence liaison function should desirably be carried out by an intelligence analyst from the Target Development Team. In respect of incoming complaints, appropriate criteria can be developed for deciding which complaints should remain for investigation by the Complaints Section and those which should be referred to the Target Development Team. The basic test should be that the information which comes to the Commission by way of complaint and which alleges the commission of serious crime or serious criminal activity or which, in the opinion of the Complaints Assessment Unit, ought to be referred for further
assessment should be referred to the Target Development Team. The other
information, the sources of which are intelligence- or investigation-based, once added to the relevant complaint material will form the base material for developing the targets and the appropriate recommendations by the Target Development Team for the Management Committee. I pause to add that this process ought to be well
disciplined and the urge to refer apparently high-profile material for instant or urgent
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investigation resisted. At the same time, the process has to be sufficiently flexible to accommodate the need to act promptly if the circumstances demand.
The design of the process and its relationship with the Complaints Section is founded on some basic considerations. It has been announced that the CJC will be given jurisdiction of the Queensland Corrective Services Commission as a unit of public administration. This is likely to lead to an increased investigative workload for the Complaints Section. Accordingly, it is likely to be a more efficient and productive process overall if a sharper focus is given to that investigative work which involves those police whose corrupt activity demands a specialist proactive response, such as will be provided by the proposed anti-corruption unit.
The composition of the Target Development Team has been identified above. In accordance with the need for intelligence-based, proactive investigations, the Target Development Team leader should be a senior officer from Intelligence Division whose responsibilities will include the preparation and formulation of the relevant data to be submitted for the consideration of the Management Committee for ultimate submission to the investigative teams. The Target Development Team will, of
necessity, be a small, tightly knit group which will work in a collaborative way and whose role will involve providing the essential liaison between the source material and the Management Committee. It will also ensure the required coordination so that the Management Committee and, ultimately, the investigative teams are properly seized of only those targets that are to be the subject of the proactive investigative effort of the investigative team. The place of the Target Development Team in the process is illustrated by figure 1.
The operation of the Target Development Team has as a by-product of its work, the capacity to resource other divisions within the Commission. By its very nature, it will generate in an orderly and disciplined way a mine of valuable information which will assist in developing research projects and papers; it will identify areas of interest for corruption prevention initiatives and, generally, has the considerable capacity to facilitate strategic assessments required to be made by the Commission.