A senior police officer has tackled the bombastic investigation of the respected homicide detective who led the team that found Cleo Smith last November.
WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch appeared on Perth radio station 6PR and touched Detective Cameron Blaine who was deposed.
Without giving significant details, Commissioner Blanch called for the Corruption and Crime Commission’s investigations to be conducted “rather thoroughly than quickly.”
WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch has been addressing the bombing investigation into deposed detective Cameron Blaine (pictured).
“I certainly understand that there is a thirst for knowledge,” he told 6PR breakfast radio host Gareth Parker.
“First of all, it is managed primarily by the CCC at this point, so it would be inappropriate for me to elaborate further.”
“But we have deposed that officer and I think that shows that we are making decisions based on the early information that we have.”
Commissioner Blanch stressed that the hiring decision was “in no way an admission of guilt or anything other than saying we are conducting an investigation with the CCC”.
The detective said he was unaware of the “precise details” of the “complaint” against Detective Blaine.
“It is more appropriate for the CCC to complete its investigation to give me enough information to make a decision about what to do next.”
“It is important that we do this thoroughly and not quickly,” he added.
Detective Blaine is a respected officer who led the team that rescued Cleo Smith (pictured) last November
Commissioner Blanch (pictured) has remained closed on Detective Blaine’s CCC investigation but said it should be conducted “more thoroughly than quickly”.
Cameron Blaine has been involved in some of Australia’s biggest cases in recent memory and was one of four officers on the scene when four-year-old Cleo was rescued in November.
A video of him talking to Cleo after she was found in a house in Carnarvon was shared around the world.
“Cleo, my name is Cameron, are you alright?” he asked her in the video. “We’ll take you to your mum and dad, is that good?”
The top cop also led the investigation into the 2013 killing of Aaron Pajich-Sweetman by would-be serial killer Jemma Lilley and her accomplice Trudi Lenon, and he was also the officer involved in the arrest of Toby Moran for the murder of his Backpacker friend Simone was involved with Strobel in NSW in 2005.
WA Police and the CCC released a statement Tuesday afternoon announcing a misconduct investigation into a senior detective believed to be Sgt. Blaine.
Pictured: Detective Sergeant Cameron Blaine tells Cleo, “We’ll take you to your mommy and daddy”. He has since revealed that police were “trying to determine if anyone else was involved”.
“A senior detective was fired today as investigations into alleged wrongdoing remain ongoing,” the statement said.
“Monitoring police behavior is an integral part of the CCC’s work and is responsible for a significant number of allegations it receives.”
The statement said the investigation was ongoing and no further comment would be made.
Sergeant Blaine opened up about the operation to rescue Cleo to Daily Mail Australia in November.
He said one of the most incredible moments for him was when he took Cleo to the hospital in the early hours after her rescue and cradled her in his arms.
Detective Senior Sergeant Cameron Blaine (pictured) was one of four officers on scene when four-year-old Cleo was rescued
As they waited at the hospital entrance, Cleo saw a poster of herself on the wall and exclaimed, “That’s me!” and he choked back tears.
Moments later, when hospital staff came to the door, they saw her and everyone burst into tears too, he said.
Speaking to the media the day after rescuing her, the detective said it was “absolutely amazing to see her sitting there… it was amazing”.
“I asked her what her name was. One of the guys jumped in front of me and picked her up and I just wanted to be absolutely sure it was her,” Sergeant Blaine said at the time.
‘I said, ‘What’s your name?’ She didn’t answer… I asked three times and then she looked at me and said ‘My name is Cleo’.’
Sergeant Blaine also said it was the best moment of his career.
He has been involved in some of Western Australia’s largest murder investigations and has seen some of the state’s worst killers sentenced to life imprisonment.
