Police demote ethical integrity with replacement of Standards Inspectors CHANGES: Queensland Police Commisioner Ian Stewart. QUEENSLAND Police Commissioner Ian Stewart will replace 23 Ethical Standards inspectors with lower-ranked officers, but says the move won't threaten the long-term integrity of the service. Mr Stewart, who six months ago vowed to take a hardline on rogue cops and police corruption, said the restructure was not about saving money but boosting efficiency. He said there no longer needed to be such a large number of Inspectors at Ethical Standards Command (ESC). "We will achieve the same outcomes with a range of ranks," he said. There is a much greater professional capacity in the organisation than there was 25 years ago. We have very skilled people at all levels. The Brisbane-based division is responsible for internal investigations and promoting ethical behaviour among the service's 11,000 sworn officers. It incorporates the Ethical Practice Branch, Inspectorate and Evaluation Branch, Internal Audit, Legal and Policy Unit and Internal Investigations Branch and works with the Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC) and other statutory bodies. The Courier-Mail has been told 23 of ESC's 35 inspectors will be replaced with sergeants and senior sergeants. Officers have been given until next week to put their hands up for redundancies or face reassignment throughout the state. While the Commissioner last month revealed 110 senior officers and up to 212 staff across the service would be offered redundancies to "revitalise frontline policing," the purge in Ethical Standards has come as a surprise to those within. They say the changes at ESC are unprecedented and "sent the wrong message." "We have had experienced people in these roles for a reason and quite simply, they will be replaced by those not as experienced," a source said. Police ethics and integrity management expert, Professor Tim Prenzler, said the changes appeared to be a "downgrading" of roles in the vital department. Dr Prenzler, of Griffith University, said the use of lower-ranked officers in ethical standards would be out of step with other countries. "The general lesson from around the world is that you definitely need more senior officers in these roles," he said.