What is a critical incident?

A critical incident is an incident involving police that results in death or serious injury. A critical incident can occur when:

• police use physical force or defensive equipment including a firearm;
• police use a vehicle;
• a person who is, or was in, police custody, or attempts to escape police custody; or
• during a police operation.

The police decide when a particular event should be declared to be a critical incident.

Who investigates critical incidents?

The NSW Police Force is responsible for investigating critical incidents.

A critical incident investigation  should consider the lawfulness and reasonableness of actions, identification of systemic, safety or procedural issues, and whether changes are needed to police procedures and practices.

Until the NSW Police Force critical incident investigation has concluded, the LECC can only monitor the NSW Police Force investigation: s 44(9) of the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission Act 2016.

Until then, the Commission cannot independently investigate the conduct of police involved in the critical incident. 

Where someone has died, or has been seriously injured, a NSW Police Force critical incident investigation will be finalised after any coronial and/or criminal proceedings have finished.

Commission independently monitors a critical incident

The Commission monitors a critical incident investigation in real time, from the time of being notified of the declaration, until the investigation is completed.

When the Commission monitors a critical incident we usually attend the critical incident scene and we review all of the material that the police hold.  We consider:

• whether the investigation is fully and properly conducted;
• the lawfulness and reasonableness of police actions both at the time of and, leading up to, the incident;
• any evidence of officer misconduct;
• any systemic safety or procedural issues that arise and the need for changes to NSW Police Force policies and procedures.

If the Commission has concerns, these are raised directly with NSW Police Force while the investigation is underway.

What happens at the end of the Commission’s monitoring?

A critical incident investigation is finalised when police provide the Commission with an investigation Report.

Critical incident investigations can take 2 to 3 years to finalise.  Many go to the Coroner or a Court before police complete their Report.

The Commission reviews the investigation report, and may raise any outstanding concerns before providing final advice to the NSW Police Force, that it considers:

• the investigation was fully and properly conducted; or
• an aspect of the investigation was inappropriate, including advice of its concerns.

We can make recommendations to the NSW Police Force and sometimes we make these recommendations public.

More information

See the Commission’s Critical Incident Investigations Dashboard for information on the location, the features and status of all critical incidents that have been or are being monitored by the Commission.

We have also completed a detailed report about the first 5 years of our critical incident monitoring function.

The Commission’s critical incident monitoring function is governed by Part 8 of the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission Act 2016.