Ombudsman forced NSW Police convictions disclosure

The Daily Telegraph report by Kelvin Bissett and Gemma Jones today about members (no names) of the NSW Police who have a criminal record is based on documents released in response to a Freedom of Information application. In the event you thought it suggests a new spirit of openness, there is this, buried in the fine print:

"The list of convictions, which police claimed at first did not exist, was released after an appeal to the Ombudsman."

Update: a similar request in the UK resulted in this report yesterday in The Observer- 800 police arrested in the two years to August 2008. Given the recent nature of the information released, and no mention of the need to seek the intercession of the umpire there was clearly less resistance to disclosure there.