As the CAA prepares for a meeting with the new Chief Commissioner, we ponder the circumstances that the Force now finds itself in.
As we reflect on the machinations that led to the appointment of Mr Bush, we cannot help but be concerned for the future of Policing in this State.
Without negative inflection on the current or former Chief Commissioner, the process, however, leads to some very grave concerns.
According to the Government, Shane Patton was removed because of a vote of no confidence by the membership.
Now, four Victorian Chief Commissioners of Police have faced votes of no confidence by police members, a worrying trend:
- Reg Jackson (1971–1977)
Jackson faced a vote of no confidence during his tenure, but remained in the role until his retirement. The specific reasons for the ballot are less documented, but it did not result in his removal.
- Mick Miller (1977–1987)
Like Jackson, Miller also faced a no-confidence vote but survived it and continued to serve until the end of his term.
- Kel Glare (1987-1992)
Although Kel Glare faced a Vote of no confidence during his tenure as Chief Commissioner, the vote was defeated.
- Shane Patton (2020–2025)
In early 2025, 87% of the 14,571 Police Association members who voted expressed no confidence in Patton’s leadership. The vote was primarily driven by dissatisfaction over a prolonged pay dispute, staffing shortages, and rising crime rates.
Amongst those Chiefs that faced off with the membership, organised by the Police Association, Miller was arguably one of the longest serving Chiefs in recent history.
The no-confidence vote in Patton was driven by:
- A prolonged and unresolved pay dispute between the Police Association and the State Government, which had led to multiple stop-work actions and dissatisfaction among officers. ( A Government-controlled issue.)
- Concerns over leadership and morale, with police members feeling unsupported and frustrated by systemic issues such as resource shortages and repeat offending. (The repeat offending is primarily driven by the Courts and the Government’s lack of decisive legislative action.)
- Political pressure, with some Opposition figures suggesting Patton was used as a scapegoat for broader government failures in law and order, cannot be dismissed. (A not unreasonable assumption given the woeful efforts of the Government to provide a strong legislative base for effective policing.)
In each of these challenges, we would argue that although the number of members voting was substantial, the police members were led by the Bears within the organisation.
Now we have a new Chief Commissioner, Mike Bush, whom we hope will provide the leadership and direction that VicPol and the State so desperately need.
But our most significant concern is the precedent that the Government has established by sacking a Chief Commissioner on what seem to be spurious political grounds.
When analysing the causes of the Police discontent, the Government has not addressed the problems but kicked the can down the road, and members are no better off today than when they rose to challenge Patton.
All that effort for a sum-zero game.
And what is more alarming is that there does not appear to be any action on the horizon to address the members’ concerns.
It should be noted that Patton was not sacked for the unsatisfactory crime rates, or the burgeoning crime and the juvenile crime surge. The lack of safety the community experiences or the Road toll.
Neither was he sacked for the lack of prosecutions of those, particularly of high rank, who allegedly committed criminal acts surrounding the Gobbo Affair, which has left a sour taste with all former and serving Police officers of good character, a significant factor in Police disquiet.
He was, however, sacked because the Rank-and-File lost confidence, so it was their fault he was sacked, not the Government.
Now, where does that leave Mr Bush and other Chief Commissioners following him?
The Police Association now has a weapon to use against the Government, expecting any further votes of no confidence will see the sacking of the incumbent Chief Commissioner, and/or the Police leadership. It all comes down to whether the Bulls or the Bears hold sway within the Police Association Executive.
It is also concerning that this action by the Government opens the door for other industrial action of a similar nature by other Emergency Services at a minimum.
With their current action, the Government has substantially reduced their bargaining position and depleted the authority of the Chief Commissioner, which is likely to create more industrial friction rather than settle the disquiet.
You can bet that now, every time the Association comes to loggerheads with the Government or the Chief Commissioner, the threat of a vote of no confidence will be writ large.
We can foresee troubling times ahead, and ultimately, the concerns of the members that precipitated this vote will be left unaddressed; the Government will simply appoint a new Chief Commissioner.
To outsmart the poor treatment of Police members, the smart move will be for the Bears and the Bulls to support the New Chief.
A successful Chief, in the main areas of public concern, is far less vulnerable to the machinations of any Government. It empowers the Chief into a stronger negotiating position with the Government, to the benefit of all members and the community.
Let’s hope that sanity within the ranks prevails.
As a current serving member who voted no, I voted the way I did because there was no demonstrated advocacy for members or push back on government failings. He may have done so behind closed doors but that demonstrates a closeness to government, lack of transparency and lack of prioritising his people and leaders over his masters and hence, a lack of confidence in his leadership.
I still recall Reg Jackson standing up publicly and stating to the Government words to the effect, “ I run the Police Force, if you don’t like the way I do it, then sack me, otherwise let me do my job “. He had a lot of support from members as you will recall after this statement, when he walked onto the stage to address the gathering at the well known industrial dispute we had at Festival Hall back in the 80’s. He received a standing ovation which plainly affected him emotionally as we could see, as it continued for almost five minutes,before he could say a few words. After then addressing the hall with his thoughts and to think of the public before entertaining strike action ,he then left to a similar ovation. That was support from the troops and in my opinion well deserved. This current Government is just a dictatorship, Do as you are told Chief or out you go…..
With the dust settling over the departure of Shane Patton from his role as CCP, it is easily reasonable to largely attribute his downfall to actions and lack of actions by the State Government – which he was unwilling or unable to deal with. That begs the currently unanswered question: Should the CCP engage in political matters?………Due to the demonstrated Police-related behaviour of the Victorian Government, the current CCP incumbent has no option but to adopt the philosophy of past CCP Reg Jackson and very strongly, maybe publicly, reject and prevent all political interference. The “new” CCP must accept that his tenure is tentative otherwise.
The force has been in decline for well over a decade. The same executive command team has largely been in charge in various roles throughout that time and shown little to no interest in supporting the members or improving how the day to day business is run in order to make it an efficient and effective police force.
Too many decisions have been made that seem to be politically driven and designed to cater to interest groups which in turn have removed scarse resources from the frontline, thinning it out even further. As police, we always somehow just make it work so command seems to think all is rosey, but the end result is dissatisfaction from the membership and people leaving in large numbers due to low morale and job dissatisfaction with the job as Vicpol finds itself today.
The no vote was a vote of no confidence in the government and executive command as a whole.
Patton was sacked as he was no longer useful to Labor, they would have only appointed someone that they feel they could trust – ‘a safe pair of hands’. I wish Bush the best but I doubt we will see him do what has to be done and stand and fight for the impartial administration of the law and get tough on crime.
I can’t see it happening.