Despite being rampant, bullying, sexual harassment and discrimination within the police force are going largely unreported, a wide-ranging review revealed on Thursday.
Failures of leadership and culture were blamed for allowing these "unacceptable behaviours" to flourish.
The review of thousands of current and former employees found 30 per cent had directly experienced bullying in the past five years, leaving many of them feeling "scared, belittled or humiliated".
Direct managers and supervisors were found to be responsible for the bulk - or 44 per cent - of the alleged bullying.
One anonymous respondent said bullying was as much a part of NSW Police as wearing a uniform.
Rates of bullying and discrimination were found to more frequently affect marginalised groups including women, people with a disability and First Nations employees.
Almost one in 10 respondents to the review said they had experienced sexual harassment in the past five years, with one per cent reporting sexual assault during the same period.
Every woman who spoke to the review described experiencing overt or covert sexual harassment, undermining and belittlement at some time during their service.
Many respondents feared speaking up against bullying would result in being ostracised or denied promotions, with most instead choosing to avoid the perpetrator or leaving the organisation.
Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon accepted all 29 recommendations made by the review, saying he was committed to ensuring NSW Police was a safe and inclusive workforce.Â
Recommendations included developing a two-year prevention strategy aimed at reducing harmful behaviours and holding those in senior roles accountable for culture and people management.
"Behaviours such as bullying, discrimination, and harassment ... are unacceptable and will not be tolerated," Mr Lanyon told reporters on Thursday.
The review was commissioned in 2024 by then-NSW Police commissioner Karen Webb following reports of a toxic culture across the force.
It was led by former Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commissioner Kristen Hilton.
More than 5000 current and former staff engaged with the review, either through face-to-face interviews, online surveys, written submissions or group discussions.
Ms Hilton stressed the importance of top-down culture in organisations like NSW Police to establish "what gets tolerated, what gets rewarded, and what gets ignored".
"We saw how culture shapes how people behave, how decisions are made, how teams hold together under pressure and what's valued," Ms Hilton told reporters.
NSW Greens justice spokesperson Sue Higginson said the review highlighted the need to bolster independent state policing watchdog, the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission.
"We need to be real about what this report has found," she said.
"We are talking about a system that is rotten at its core, that threatens the integrity of our system of law enforcement."
Former Victoria Police detective Charlie Bezzina said the issues were not confined to NSW.
"We've had the same issue here in Victoria," he told AAP.
Mr Bezzina questioned whether some of the allegations of bullying contained in the report could be classified as giving orders in a hierarchical environment.
"Policing is a robust industry and orders have to be given, and it might well be a life-or-death situation that you're dealing with," he said.
"So is there a bad culture or is that just part of the discipline process?"
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