Cop mourned

By Kath Gannaway
THE death of Sergeant Tony Van Gorp last week sent shockwaves through the Healesville community.
Tributes have flowed for the popular, community-minded policeman who as officer in charge at Healesville for the past 15 years, played an active role in many community organisations, particularly local schools.
Sgt Van Gorp, 47, was found dead on Monday night (22 March) by two colleagues when they returned to the Healesville police station at around 9.30pm.
Victoria Police confirmed his death just after midnight, stating that a gun was found at the scene and that there were no suspicious circumstances. It was soon also confirmed that he had had taken his own life.
The Melbourne media went into meltdown, and the rumour mill in Healesville followed suit, as it was revealed that Sgt Van Gorp was under investigation for misuse of the police email system.
Speculation was fuelled by the fact that Sgt Van Gorp had tendered his resignation on 18 March after receiving a Section 68 notice from Chief Commissioner Simon Overland.
The notice was one of only two issued by Mr Overland following investigations by the Ethical Standards Department for what were said to be “serious discipline matters”.
A close friend of Sgt Van Gorp has told the Mail he believed the letter was an ultimatum – resign or be sacked.
Much of the reporting on the police email crackdown last week revolved around other investigations being conducted by the ESD relating to racist and pornographic emails which Mr Overland said would shock the community.
He went on record on Thursday however as saying that the email for which he had delivered the section 68 to Sgt Van Gorp was neither racist, nor illegal.
Mr Overland has strongly rejected accusations that the Section 68 was a heavy-handed approach saying the email was sufficiently ‘serious’ to warrant the action.
He gave no indication as to the direction the ESD investigations into Sgt Van Gorp’s matter would now take, or if and when the exact nature of the email would be made known.
More stories on pages 8 and 9.