A former member of a disbanded NSW Police unit which investigated bias crimes complained to a colleague that the force had "fought every attempt" to integrate a hate crime response into policing, an inquiry has heard.
The special commission of inquiry is investigating unsolved deaths in NSW between 1970 and 2010 suspected of being the result of LGBT hate attacks, and is this week focusing on the police response and changes to how suspected hate crimes are investigated.
Assistant Commissioner Anthony Crandell, the first police witness, previously served as the NSW Police corporate sponsor for sexuality, gender diversity and intersex — a role which saw him act as a spokesperson and maintain community relationships with LGBT groups.
He told the inquiry of the evolving positions which have focused on hate crime capability within NSW Police, including the creation of a coordinator position in 2007.
A bias crimes unit was formed in 2015 which included his colleague, Sergeant Geoff Steer, and three others, to examine various forms of bias crime including LGBT, race-based or religion bias.
But the inquiry heard that after only two years, the unit was "essentially disbanded overnight" during a restructure, with three of the four staff, including Sergeant Steer, redeployed.
The unit was moved under the counterterrorism command.
The inquiry was shown a May 2017 email from Sergeant Steer which explained that bias crime would be left to relevant corporate sponsors within NSW Police, and said the ability of police to identify, investigate and respond to bias crimes "was not there".
That email was not sent to Assistant Commissioner Crandell, and he told the inquiry he did not have an awareness of the circumstances of Sergeant Steer's change in position.
About a year later, when Assistant Commissioner Crandell was quoted in a newspaper article discussing how then-assessment tools for bias crimes were not practical for everyday policing, he received a lengthy email from Sergeant Steer.
Sergeant Steer claimed he had been "forced out" of the bias crimes unit and that hate crimes "have never been accepted by the NSW Police Force and has never had organisation support".
"My experience with hate crimes in the NSW Police Force fully supports the concept of organisational cognitive dissonance," the email read.
"If the information supplied differs from the core belief, then all information, no matter how relevant or accurate, will be disregarded to avoid conflict with core belief systems.
"As the NSW Police Force clearly has fought every attempt to integrate a hate crimes response into everyday policing, I am not surprised by the way it has ended."
Assistant Commissioner Crandell said he believed his colleague was "extremely upset" at the time of the email.
"I believe he would have thought there was no corporate focus on bias crimes," he told the hearing.
"I would say our awareness has evolved."
Assistant Commissioner Crandell told the inquiry NSW Police had "absolutely not" turned its back on LGBT bias crimes.
The inquiry, before Justice John Sackar, continues.
