A publisher has pulled a former police officer’s memoir after the force questioned his claim he attended the Port Arthur massacre.
Hachette confirmed parts of the book Special Operations Group by former Victorian police officer Christophe Glasl were inaccurate, and that it had been removed from shelves.
“It has come to our attention that some of the content of the book, Special Operations Group by Christophe Glasl, is inaccurate,” the publisher said in a statement on Monday afternoon.
“We have taken the decision to withdraw this book from sale immediately while we undertake further review.”
Victoria Police released a statement earlier in the afternoon, saying that it was “aware of a newly published book on the Special Operations Group (SOG) written by a former member” and that it had “concerns about the accuracy of the book including some of the author’s claims about jobs he attended.
“Of particular concern is chapter 18 which focuses on the author’s claimed involvement in the resolution of the Port Arthur massacre.
“To confirm, the former member was not part of the SOG deployment to Port Arthur nor was he even in Tasmania at the time.”
Glasl declined to comment.
The book, which has been available since 30 June, had been subject to a wave of publicity in recent days.
It featured in an article in the Australian newspaper headlined “Former police officer Christophe Glasl explains why Martin Bryant was not killed at Port Arthur” and in the Herald Sun, which said in a sub-head that “The morning after Chris Glasl and his SOG crew shot a crook, they were losing the adrenaline buzz of the kill – so he racked up a line of cocaine to fill the void.
“It’s no surprise Port Arthur gets a run in the book … not that revisiting that terrible event through Glasl’s eyes throws any new light on it,” the Herald Sun noted in its piece.
It also said the memoir “began as a private journal he wrote as therapy”.
It is understood Glasl was a former member of the SOG, the most highly trained tactical squad in the Victorian police force. But it’s understood that questions have been raised within the force about multiple jobs he claimed to have attended in his book.
Hachette has also removed a page referencing the book, Glasl’s first, from its website.
Publicity materials provided to online retailers describe the book as “the ultimate insider account of what it takes to be one of the toughest police officers in the world – and the price it demands. It’s a white-knuckle ride that you will never forget.
“Chris Glasl joined Victoria Police at 19, with one aim in mind: to become a member of the Special Operations Group. Ultra-fit and highly trained, the SOG are called to the most dangerous missions: hostage situations, gunmen on the loose and risky mobile intercepts.
“After going through an incredibly gruelling elimination process, Chris joined the SOG in 1994, thinking he was becoming part of a unit that was untouchable, indestructible and bonded so closely together they were a brotherhood like no other. He didn’t find that brotherhood.
“Instead, Chris experienced a unit rife with bullying, lies and betrayal. In combination with the dangerous missions they undertook and the pressure he experienced with each one, Chris needed a release valve – and he found it by taking drugs. It was the only way to switch off the adrenaline, to sleep at night, to get through his days. And those days involved fatal shootings, a triple murder, a 100-million-dollar drug bust and the Port Arthur massacre, to name just a few.”
