Rita Panahi: Shane Patton’s downfall began long before no-confidence vote
The politicisation of Victoria Police and overreach in the Covid years meant Shane Patton not only lost the support of his officers, but oversaw VicPol as it lost the trust of ordinary people.
Opinion
Don't miss out on the headlines from Opinion. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Shane Patton’s downfall began well before Friday’s overwhelming no-confidence vote.
On Sunday, Patton stepped down as Chief Commissioner, effective immediately, after more than 45 years of service, close to five of them in the top job.
Officers made their feelings clear when 87 per cent of Police Association members in an online survey said they had no confidence in the police chief’s leadership.
The angst is largely due to a stalled enterprise bargaining agreement including contentious sick leave provisions, but morale had been low well before the EBA negotiations began.
The manner in which the force has been politicised under successive police commissioners upset many members.
Seeing police command twist themselves into knots to support the Dan Andrews and Jacinta Allan governments left a bad taste in the mouths of members who are irate about Labor’s soft-on-crime policies including deeply flawed bail laws.
Police, and the wider community, are also fed up with a judiciary dominated by leftist bleeding heart ideologues, appointed by Labor, who consistently make decisions at odds with community expectations. But that’s a column for a different day.
The appointment of Andrews’ former chief of staff, Brett Curran, as an assistant police commissioner did not exactly scream “separation of powers”.
Patton lost the support of the men and women of Victoria Police but even more importantly he oversaw VicPol as it lost the trust of ordinary people. Public faith in the thin blue line hit record lows in the wake of police overreach during the Covid era.
Back in 2022, Patton realised how the public’s view of the police had changed after we watched officers engage in appalling behaviour, from harassing old ladies on park benches to arresting a pregnant mum in her own kitchen over a Facebook post.
Eager to rebuild the force’s image, the Chief Commissioner launched a charm offensive.
“It’s time to reset and reconnect with the community,” he said.
“Our new back-to-basics approach is about making sure we’re listening to the community and tackling issues they care about.”
One can argue the initiative has failed.
Polling in June last year showed only 58 per cent were “satisfied with policing services” in Victoria – well short of VicPol’s 80 per cent target.
Originally published as Rita Panahi: Shane Patton’s downfall began long before no-confidence vote
Frydenberg: Crushing anti-Semitism is Australia’s fight — and one we must win
At first our leaders ignored what was happening, then hoped it would go away, but now they are seeing the depth of the problem — if anti-Semitism is left unchecked, the wall that keeps the mob at bay will come crumbling down.
Deery: Tackling a bloated public service no easy task for Allan
Victorians could be forgiven for demanding a little less conversation and a lot more action in tackling an ever-growing public service. But Jacinta Allan faces a tough balancing act in cutting fat, managing a government-worker backlash and maintaining services.