This headline in the Herald Sun on the 12th of March 2026 refers to a recent Machete attack in Melbourne. It happened in Melbourne’s East, where a group of youths started throwing rocks at the victim’s house before the attack.
It was reported that a Mooroolbark man said he was “lucky to be alive,” after he was slashed across his face, hand and back as he tried to defend his home – located just two minutes from a (closed) police station – from a machete-wielding gang.
We, like all Victorians, are getting sick of the ‘Argy-bargy’ over police numbers and the closure of police stations. It is misleading the public and causing additional stress on an already stretched Police Force.
It is time to air some issues that seem to miss the point of Law and Order and the policing role.
First and foremost, and ‘make no bones’, there are some very serious problems within Victoria Police, but they didn’t pop up at the same time as the Machete scourge. The problems took some time to develop and are now manifesting as a serious problem. Unfortunately, too many within the Force are in denial and entrenched in their comfortable offices.
The cause has been a combination of poor management of the Force, a Court system that dispenses social reform rather than justice, and a government’s extremist agitators that are happy to see the Police hamstrung or defunded by stealth.
This has caused huge frustration among police members and made the policing task just so difficult that many have decided Policing is not a career for them, and, frustratingly, with a little bit of foresight and sage advice to the Government (if they would listen), could have avoided the problems the Force now faces.
So, combining poor management with reduced resources has got us where we are today. With a Force that is not meeting the community’s needs, the measure of any effective police service.
Nothing is achieved by ‘raking over cold coals’, any spark is well departed and beyond recovery, but we must look forward to creative solutions.
Importantly, the public must realise that closing a Police Station (inquiry counter) doesn’t mean the Station isn’t functioning as normal; it just doesn’t have a forward-facing inquiry counter.
It is highly unlikely that if the Mooroolbark police station had been open at the time of this attack, police would have attended any earlier.
The problem might be more to do with the management of available resources rather than the quantum of police rostered at that time—a Force-wide issue.
It all comes down to training and the accountability of managers and supervisors in the operational resource space. Training Sergeants to proactively manage staff in real time and avoid wasting resources is critical.
Depending on the nature of the call and the circumstances, what may at first blush seem very serious and dangerous can, once the police are on the scene, dissipate very quickly. Still, inevitably, the additional resources are only cleared at their discretion, where a supervisor should step in and clear unnecessary resources.
If you take note of many Police incidents, there are those directly involved and usually a number of police spectators, a major resource management failure.
The point made is that efficient and well-trained frontline supervisors will go a long way to improving the police service.
Another glaring anomaly is the number of Police who are ‘Acting’ or upgraded for whatever reason. Still, Acting Sergeants through to Acting Commissioners mean that the fully trained and accountable Police at all ranks are replaced by members who may be experienced and, to a degree, capable, but they are not the trained, the real deal.
Most importantly, as a temporary custodian of a position, they are not responsible for the overall performance of the position they fill.
Inevitably, this must lead to substandard supervision and operational management.
What is obvious from the plethora of Acting supervisors is that there are insufficient qualified members at the various ranks to cover sick leave, Annual leave or other rostering challenges; bad planning.
A review of the quantum of members at the various ranks needs to be undertaken as a major step in making the force better and fitter for purpose.
The Operational members deserve no less than competent, trained supervisors. Non-operational areas, the issue is not so critical.
There could also be a strong argument to rethink how Police communications are delivered and managed.
There is no sugar coating that being an operational police member on the road can be dangerous and stressful, and that includes the various line supervisors (Sergeants). Every effort must be made to provide the very best support for these members that the organisation can muster. An issue that must be addressed by the Police Association in the interest of all members.
The tendency to look to technology for a solution has often been counterproductive, as the focus on the technology belies the need for sound experience and skill for the source input operators.
Operational Police didn’t understand the introduction of unsworn staff as radio Operators (D24) some time ago, as it can take years for even Police operators to develop a basic skill set in Police operational practices and procedures to assist and support members in the field.
If you are chasing crooks over back fences, it was always D24 who had your back.
Most current Police do not know any difference, therefore accept the status quo; however, the Force could do a lot worse than re-examining this process, and while technology is important, it cannot replace experience and skills that years of policing achieve.
It’s similar to AI – there are really great things that can be achieved with it, but not at the expense of competent human input.
The Police radio is not simply a communications tool; it also provides support and comfort to members in the field and is an important resource for ensuring the right services are dispatched to help members perform their tasks.
Experienced Police operators can second-guess the operational needs of the members as they evolve, something that technology (and AI) cannot.
This part of the policing process, in addition to being critically important for operational effectiveness, also supports members’ welfare. The detached voice of an experienced Police operator can make a hugely positive impact on the effect that tragedy can have on the members in the field.
Clearly, a key aspect, and of equal importance to the operational effectiveness and the welfare of the police, is the impact on and response to victims.
The Force has been driven by budget constraints and a lack of corporate management skills to pursue efficiency, which is treated as some holy grail that all managers must aspire to.
Whether that is because of poor training of senior ranks or a need to have efficiency achievements writ large on their CV, it needs to be explored, but efficiency is not efficient if it adversely affects the output of the organisation’s Service delivery.
The CAA has been amazed at the number of Senior Police who do not understand and or confuse the two concepts.
Just a portion of the outward-facing service where efficiency has trumped Service delivery.
- Police Advice Line– marked as effective, but Victims and the general public find it substantially lacking in delivery.
- Crime stoppers– similar failings discourage the public from using the service – no caller feedback.
- Police exercising discretion – must complete multiple administrative functions requiring the repetitive recording of data, distracting Police from Operations.
- Recording Call response times – so adequate resources can be relocated to service areas of need. This must be benchmarked.
- Victim feedback –a priority that must be measurable to ensure proper function.
- Police numbers –creative use of Government space created by WFH to be converted into training facilities to at least double the projected training output of 77 per annum to somewhere north of 150.
- Police Training efficiency -Recruits can start training at the Academy, covering Operational Safety Training (OST), and then move to a Training building off campus for Law and procedural training and return to the Academy for their last few weeks for exams and graduation, increasing the output without the need to reduce the training timelines and compromise the critical initial training phase.
The Force needs to undertake a structural review to address not only what we have identified; there is no doubt that many other areas could be improved, with a priority on Service delivery over Service efficiency. It should be all about effective outcomes for the service the Force is responsible for, not what efficiencies can be created inwardly.
It is worth noting that the corporate sector, which widely followed a trend of locating call centres overseas to achieve efficiency (reduce costs), is now reversing that trend, with more call centres being relocated onshore.
The overseas option wasn’t delivering the service needed and was hurting the businesses that adopted it. We are now seeing more corporate players using the fact that their call centres are onshore as a marketing advantage.
The solution for Victoria Police starts with addressing and updating the Planning Function currently in vogue to be fit for purpose.
The planning function of Victoria Police currently involves:
- Developing annual corporate plans with a 4-year outlook.
That has been a failure given the current situation.
- Setting strategic priorities based on community safety and government direction.
Setting Strategic priories have failed dramatically.
- Allocating resources effectively to meet current and emerging demands.
That has also been a failure of dramatic proportions.
- Monitoring organisational performance to ensure goals are met.
It depends on whether you measure relevant data or only data that supports performance.
- Engaging stakeholders and communities in shaping police responses.
Community consultation is an exercise in deflecting community concerns, with attendees at forums very disappointed in the attitude of the police.
- Ensuring organisational capability through workforce and asset planning.
A glaring omission from the planning process is the plight of Victims.
– That is where planning should start. To omit them from the process says it all about force priorities.
If this function was being performed correctly, we would not be facing the crime the community is experiencing or the lack of police service.
.All very good, but by any matrix, the planning process is failing; the current staffing imbroglio proves that, either planners were asleep at the wheel, or were measuring the wrong data, or the correct data hadn’t been collected.
This current staffing and response capacity of the Force did not occur overnight but took years to achieve its current abysmal level. It will take years to recover completely; however, in the short term, the focus must be on delivering the services the public wants and needs, not what some Police bureaucrats think they need.
To find out, all they have to do is ask.
A good place to start may be the victim from Mooroolbark.
Chief Commissioner Bush has a monumental task ahead. We wish him well.
I see acting ranks everywhere including inspectors. Unfortunately many have not spent time long enough in the sub officer rank to understand supervision properly. How did this occur and what can be done to address it. Imagine getting all those involved to come back to the sergeant rank and doing it properly. And I’m talking about some time and not five minutes. Important grounding ranks have been bypassed. Many inexperienced members flying desks for big money.