Top cop frontrunner admits ‘inappropriate’ action during NYE celebrations

3 weeks ago 2

The favourite to become NSW police commissioner, Mal Lanyon, has admitted taking his wife and another couple aboard an operational police boat for New Year’s Eve in 2023, after a complaint was lodged with the police watchdog about the incident.

In response to questions from the Herald, Lanyon said that in hindsight, he should have thought more carefully about “the appropriateness of inviting another couple to attend with me”.

Mal Lanyon is the frontrunner to replace Karen Webb, left, as NSW Police Commissioner.

Lanyon is the frontrunner to become the commissioner, as an end-of-month deadline looms for the government to decide who will replace Karen Webb as head of the police force. The revelation threatens to derail his promotion.

The perception among some within the force about this incident was that it was a New Year’s Eve joyride with a good vantage point for the fireworks.

The complaint was lodged with the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission within the past few weeks, multiple police sources told the Herald. The sources also confirmed that Lanyon was on the boat, the OPV Nemesis, that night and took people with him.

The LECC did not respond to queries about the complaint, and did not say whether it would be investigated. However, police sources said due process would involve asking a superior for permission – in this case, Webb. If a junior officer were asked, one line of inquiry in any investigation might be whether they felt pressured to say yes.

A flotilla of boats at the 2023 New Year’s Eve celebrations on Sydney Harbour.

Lanyon’s response to the Herald on Wednesday said he was aboard the Nemesis on New Year’s Eve 2023, when he was the deputy commissioner for metropolitan field operations and had responsibility for the Marine Area Command.

“As deputy commissioner for metropolitan field operations, I had overall oversight of the New Year’s Eve operation in the metropolitan area both on land and water,” he said in the statement. “My wife and another couple were also present.

“The Nemesis is a 31-metre offshore vessel used as a command post on New Year’s Eve. There was no impact to the operational capability of the vessel.

“In hindsight, I recognise that I should have thought more carefully about the appropriateness of inviting another couple to attend with me, even though my intention was to observe the policing operation and learn more about the Marine Area Command’s activities.”

Allegations about lower-ranking officers are investigated by the Professional Standards Command. However, complaints about senior officers are often referred to LECC, so police do not have to investigate their bosses.

The government has taken its time to make a decision on the commissioner. The first round of interviews was held almost two months ago, in late July. It faces a looming deadline; outgoing boss Webb’s last day is on September 30.

If deliberations stretched beyond that, it would have to reappoint an acting commissioner.

Webb, the first female commissioner, quit almost two years before her five-year term was due to finish.

While Premier Chris Minns says it was her decision, multiple political and police sources say he wanted and encouraged her to go, partly because she did not have the support of the powerful Police Association. Lanyon has the association’s support.

Lanyon was the frontrunner for the job when it was last vacant in 2021, but his chances were thwarted by a drunken incident near the Goulburn police academy, when an ambulance was called because he was lying non-responsive on a footpath.

He then told treating paramedics to “f--- off” and rang their boss, the chief executive of Ambulance NSW, Dr Dominic Morgan. LECC did not initially investigate, despite seeing the story in the media, because there was no complaint.

It later sought more information, it told this masthead, but was satisfied with the NSW Police Force’s handling of the matter. Then-commissioner Mick Fuller told the NSW budget estimates that he counselled Lanyon about his conduct.

After the Goulburn incident, some police officers felt Lanyon’s behaviour was not given the same scrutiny that theirs would have been if they had acted similarly. One, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they are not allowed to speak freely, said this complaint has reinforced that view.

“The Goulburn police academy had a lesson on the police code of conduct. One of the points is that police must use public resources responsibly,” they said. “The example given was of a cop who uses the work phones for private calls excessively. But they didn’t say anything about taking the flagship of the fleet out [on the harbour], so that must be OK?”

Lanyon is a deputy commissioner but has been on secondment to the Reconstruction Authority, which helps communities recover from and prepare for natural disasters, since April last year.