Illicit drug use among Australian cops "serious problem": report

Illicit drug use among police officers in the Australian state of Victoria is a "widespread and serious problem," according to the state's anti-corruption commission on Tuesday.

A report by the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) found that drug use within the force was putting not only officers, but their colleagues and the wider community at risk, while testing and prevention measures were less than adequate.

Commissioner Stephen O'Bryan, who tabled the report in state Parliament on Tuesday, said the issue was widespread and needed to be fixed for the sake of the community which relies so much on an effective police force.

"Police officers who use, possess or traffic illicit drugs not only make themselves vulnerable to blackmail or coercion and put themselves at real risk of being exploited by organized criminals," O'Bryan told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Tuesday.

"They also present a health and safety risk to their colleagues and the broader community when they are making critical decisions or handling lethal weapons whilst impaired."

The report said, on average, just 5 percent of Victoria Police officers would be drug tested each year, and testing was widely ineffective because officers were often given advance notice.

"At the current rate, a Victoria police officer is likely to be randomly drug tested once every 20 years," the report said.

A number of officers probed in the report tested positive for drugs including cocaine, ecstasy and methamphetamine, while two separate officers had direct contact with traffickers.

The IBAC has recommended that Victoria police develops a clear policy on illicit drugs, improves its drug testing and creates a support network for officers who are found to have illicit substances in their system. Endit