Matters regarding Paul Reynolds were considered by four independent oversight mechanisms – a Coronial Inquest, the Commission of Inquiry, Weiss Independent Review, and the Integrity Commission.
Records indicate the decision to hold a police funeral was made in September 2018 at the request of the Reynolds family. The decision was made by the then Commissioner of Police, as per the Tasmania Police Manual and all records relating to this have already been publicly released and are available here.
In its assessment of the matter, the Integrity Commission stated that the-then Commissioner's decision to hold a police funeral "was not so unreasonable as to constitute misconduct… Rather than being characterised as misconduct, it may be argued that the decision was an error of judgement."
In October 2023, Tasmania Police proactively provided information publicly regarding the police funeral.
At that time, Commissioner Adams also sincerely apologised for the police funeral and to those affected - victim-survivors, the Tasmanian community, and members and staff of Tasmania Police. Commissioner Adams clearly stated it was wrong to hold the police funeral.
The Tasmania Police Manual was amended in October 2023 to include a requirement for the Commissioner of the day to consider any current Professional Standards matters as part of the decision-making process for holding a police funeral.
The independent review – carried out by respected barrister Regina Weiss - was initiated by Commissioner Adams to fully understand the extent of his offending, provide an opportunity for victims to be heard in a trauma informed way and to identify learnings for our organisation.
Changes had already been made to the criteria for determining a police funeral under the Tasmania Police Manual prior to the Weiss Independent Review.
