FROM “HERO COP” TO CCC MISCONDUCT: THE CAMERON BLAINE STORY

For many Australians, Detective Senior Sergeant Cameron Blaine became one of the most recognisable faces of the extraordinary police operation that brought four year old Cleo Smith home alive. But less than two years later, the senior homicide detective’s police career was over. Behind the internationally celebrated rescue was another story, one involving a young journalist, repeated disclosure of confidential police information, graphic crime scene material and dozens of instances where a police vehicle was used for private purposes. It was ultimately investigated by Western Australia’s Corruption and Crime Commission.

THE CLEO SMITH RESCUE

Blaine joined WA Police as an 18 year old cadet in 1991 and had risen to Detective Senior Sergeant and Senior Investigating Officer with the Homicide Squad by 2021. That year he joined Operation Rodia, the investigation into Cleo Smith’s disappearance from her family’s tent near Carnarvon. In the early hours of 3 November 2021, Blaine was one of a four officer team that entered a Carnarvon house and recovered Cleo alive. Footage of Blaine asking the little girl her name (and hearing her respond) travelled around the world. While police and journalists were based in Carnarvon covering the massive investigation, Blaine became friendly with a 22 year old female journalist, referred to by the CCC as “Ms A”. The CCC later said there was no evidence of wrongdoing on the journalist’s part.

A RELATIONSHIP AND CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION

Ms A told investigators an intimate relationship developed between the pair while they were in Carnarvon, which Blaine disputes. The CCC examined phone records, police information, testimony and other corroborating evidence and ultimately said it regarded Ms A as an honest and credible witness. Where their evidence conflicted over disclosure of confidential information, the Commission said it preferred her evidence. The relationship continued after they returned to Perth. The CCC said any intimate component appeared to have ended around February or March 2022, although contact continued until June. It also recorded that Ms A made attempts to end the association. The CCC found Blaine divulged confidential information to Ms A on numerous occasions and identified disclosures involving three journalists and another woman with whom he had formed a short liaison.

GRAPHIC CRIME SCENE MATERIAL

Among the most confronting disclosures identified by the CCC was material from homicide investigations. In one case, the Commission said Blaine shared footage capturing the intensely private grief of a father who had been told his wife and children had died. The CCC concluded the footage should not have been disclosed and agreed with another Homicide Squad officer that it should not have been filmed in the first place. In another homicide investigation, the CCC found Blaine provided a journalist with information about where a body had been located, despite the investigation belonging to another team. The investigating officers considered the information sensitive. The CCC’s noted it was not Blaine’s investigation and it was not his decision to release the information.

UNRELEASED CLEO SMITH BODYCAM FOOTAGE

The Cleo Smith investigation itself was also caught up in the disclosures. The CCC found that while Blaine was at Ms A’s residence in February 2022, he accessed body worn camera footage relating to the search of the house where Cleo was found. Only part of that footage had been released publicly. Ms A was able to describe content beyond the portion released to the media. Blaine acknowledged accessing the footage at her house but maintained that he watched it himself and did not show it to her. The CCC found that explanation implausible and accepted Ms A’s account.

ANOTHER HOMICIDE AND GRAPHIC IMAGES

The investigation also examined disclosures surrounding a February 2022 homicide at Warnbro. The CCC found Blaine sent Ms A a custody photograph identifying a victim before the information had been officially released. It also found that while at her home he accessed police systems and showed her body worn camera footage of investigators walking through the crime scene. The footage contained graphic imagery. The CCC said Ms A was visibly distressed when recalling it during her evidence and that her description of what she had seen was accurate. Another investigation involved the deaths of two children and their mother in a deliberately lit vehicle fire. The CCC found Blaine allowed Ms A to overhear confidential information during a speakerphone conversation with another officer and later showed her photographs taken inside the vehicle that depicted the bodies. He also disclosed information about the victims that had not yet been made public.

62 BREACHES INVOLVING A POLICE VEHICLE

The CCC investigation also uncovered extensive misuse of an unmarked Homicide Squad Toyota Prado. Blaine had approval to use the vehicle to commute between work and home. That approval did not give him unrestricted permission to use the police vehicle for his private life. The CCC identified 62 instances where Blaine breached WA Police vehicle policy during an eight month period. Examples identified in the report included driving the police vehicle to Ms A’s home while on leave, visiting her during working hours, attending other women’s homes, travelling to sporting events and using the vehicle for other personal movements. On 7 December 2021, the vehicle use was recorded as being connected to Operation Rodia (the Cleo Smith investigation) when the CCC said Blaine had actually visited Ms A. On another occasion in January 2022, another visit to her residence was again recorded as Operation Rodia. Following the apparent end of their intimate relationship, the CCC recorded further movements. On 25 March 2022, Blaine drove the police vehicle to Ms A’s new address and left gifts. The following day he again drove to the area. On 31 May, the CCC recorded that he drove past her home during the day before later driving past both her address and her mother’s address after work. The Commission described Blaine’s conduct surrounding police vehicles as involving “serial deceit”, including occasions where false reasons were entered into vehicle records.

WAS INFORMATION BEING TRADED FOR SEX?

That claim has circulated online but it goes further than the CCC’s findings. The Commission did not find that Blaine entered into an explicit arrangement where confidential police information was exchanged for sex. The CCC formed the opinion that Blaine misused information acquired through his position for his own benefit in maintaining a relationship and for the benefit of the journalist. The journalist was not accused of wrongdoing and the CCC specifically noted that she did not seek some of the information disclosed to her. It said that, for the most part, she recognised the material was sensitive and did not use it.

THE CCC INVESTIGATION

The CCC began Operation Pemaquid in 2022 after being approached by a journalist with allegations concerning a senior WA Police officer. The investigation was conducted in cooperation with WA Police and included private examinations of witnesses, examination of phones and police information, and other corroborating material. The Commission ultimately formed opinions of police misconduct in relation to two matters: 1. Blaine’s repeated disclosure of confidential information; and 2. His misuse of a State owned police vehicle. The CCC said either category of behaviour could constitute reasonable grounds for termination of his employment. However, the Commission also stressed an important legal distinction noting an opinion of police misconduct by the CCC is not a finding that a person has committed a criminal or disciplinary offence.

RESIGNATION ONE DAY BEFORE THE REPORT

On 16 March 2023, the CCC provided information to the Commissioner of Police for consideration of disciplinary proceedings. Then, on 25 October 2023 (one day before the CCC report was tabled in Parliament) Cameron Blaine resigned from WA Police with immediate effect. His resignation brought the disciplinary proceedings to an end. The following day, the CCC publicly released its report. Commissioner John McKechnie KC said police officers occupied positions of trust and had access to information and assets because of that trust. The Commission said misuse of that trust diminished public confidence in policing.

THE STORY BEYOND THE HEADLINES

Cameron Blaine will remain part of the story of one of Western Australia’s most remarkable police investigations. He was one of four officers who entered the Carnarvon house and recovered Cleo Smith alive. But the CCC report records another chapter of his policing career, one involving confidential police intelligence, deeply private homicide material and State resources being used in ways the Commission concluded fell well short of acceptable conduct.