Victoria’s top cop Shane Patton backs better pay for police, defends police action at Land Forces protests

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton has said force members deserve better pay and conditions as they do a “brilliant job”, while defending their actions at anti-war protests in Melbourne.

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton has strongly backed a better pay deal for his police officers and declared he does not want them working unpaid overtime.

Mr Patton said members of his force did a “brilliant” job and he agreed with the Police Association that they should be paid well for work often done in awful circumstances.

But he said wage rise decisions were not in his control.

Chief Commissioner Shane Patton has strongly backed a better pay deal for his police officers. Picture: Valeriu Campan

“The point for me is that we must operate within the wages policy that the (state) government sets, and that is three per cent. The association is seeking six per cent,” Mr Patton told ABC radio on Tuesday.

“There’s a disparity there. If you don’t have the money, I can’t deal with that. I must operate within (the) wages policy.”

One of the major grievances of members is the time before and after shifts they spend without pay, preparing for work then giving more after their rostered hours.

“We want the same again as the association, we want our police officers to be not working unpaid overtime … but again, I have to operate within the wages policy,” Mr Patton said.

He said that was why he had asked the Fair Work Commission to help with mediation and conciliation.

Mr Patton says he wants police to be happy and healthy at work. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

Mr Patton said he valued his members and wanted them to be healthy and happy at work.

“They go to the coalface, they dig in each day, they get confronted by vitriol and abuse. They deal with difficult and gut-wrenching scenarios,” he said.

“They do a brilliant job.”

Mr Patton’s comments came the morning after it was announced paramedics had come to a pay deal which will yield pay rises of between 17 and 33 per cent over four years.

Their union said it would make them the nation’s highest-paid ambulance officers.

It was revealed on the weekend that Victoria’s 54,000 public servants were set to receive a $3000 annual payment, on top of a $5000 cost-of-living bonus granted earlier this year.

More arrests likely after anti-war protests

Mr Patton also said it’s “bad luck” that anti-war activists were hit with pepper spray as they “brought that on themselves” and further arrests are likely to be made.

Almost 90 people have so far been taken into custody since the disgraced anti-war activists violently clashed with police in the city on September 11.

CBD streets resembled a war zone as protesters threw rocks, acid and crates at officers and their horses which saw police fire rubber bullets and stun grenades at the crowds.

Mr Patton on Tuesday backed his officers who were forced to deploy those tactics at the 1500-strong crowd.

He said the protesters’ behaviour was “horrendous and appalling” and was “proud” of his officers who had to endure the attacks on police.

“I was so proud of the members in what they did. I’ve heard criticisms of them that we instigated matters, it’s just rubbish,” he told ABC Radio Melbourne.

Police face off against anti-war activists at the International Land Defence Exposition in Melbourne. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

“I was so proud of the way they responded, the restraint they used.

“I think if you put yourself in that situation where you’re at the front end of attacks on police officers and you get sprayed, unfortunately for you, I say bad luck.

“I think if you look at most of the footage, you’ll see that they’re involved at the front end of it.

“People who put themselves in that position have really brought that on themselves.”

Mr Patton said further arrests were likely as detectives trawled through an extensive amount of video footage.

Police body camera vision, CCTV and video posted to social media are being analysed to identify additional offenders.

“It will take a little while but we will see more than the 89 arrests we’ve already conducted,” he added.

Anti-war protesters on day one of three days of rallies in Melbourne. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Forty-two of those arrests occurred on September 11, the first day of the Land Forces weapons expo.

Police and the mounted branch were sprayed with acid that irritated the horses’ skin and sent one police officer to hospital.

Nearly 30 officers required medical treatment on the day.

Treasurer Tim Pallas has since flagged Victoria’s ambition to host the expo in the future.

The three-day event earlier this month saw taxpayers fork out up to $30m to host and police the event and more than 12,000 policing shifts were pulled from regular duties

Originally published as Victoria’s top cop Shane Patton backs better pay for police, defends police action at Land Forces protests