Rita Panahi: Cultural change at VicPol must start at the top

Vic Pol’s standing with the public has been badly damaged in recent years – and it’s going to take more than platitudes and a PR campaign to restore its reputation.

Victoria Police is lurching from one crisis to another.

In the past week alone it has been forced to apologise to Rebel News journalist Avi Yemeni for three wrongful arrests in 12 months, paid out Age photographer Luis Ascui thousands for deliberately pepper spraying him as he covered an anti-lockdown protest, and is currently negotiating a settlement with another journalist injured by officers.

Meanwhile, Vic Pol’s standing with the public has been badly damaged in recent years due to a multitude of self-inflicted wounds from the clear politicisation of the force including selective policing practices to the slug-gate scandal to the brutal manner in which they enforced even the most absurd Covid-19 restrictions.

Then there are the devastating failures in the investigation of the Silk-Miller police murders. It’s a grim state of affairs that has many serving and former members fearing worse is to come.

“There seems to be no end to the flow of ineptitude and policing failures; we all just sit and wait for the inevitable next one,” wrote Ivan Ray, CEO of the Community Advocacy Alliance and a retired Inspector.

Mr Ray fears that confidence in the police force will continue to wane and lists a litany of issues that have contributed to the current malaise including the police overreach that saw a young mum handcuffed in front of her children because of online posts, the use of nonlethal rounds on protesters, the police failures preceding the Bourke St massacre, the Lawyer X affair and the compromised investigations of the Red Shirts and Slug-gate sagas.

“Taken in isolation, many issues would have of themselves have limited impact on public confidence, but the build-up of events is taking its toll, and the informed public will inevitably start demanding change,” he said.

Chief Commissioner Shane Patton can’t expect a PR campaign to restore Victoria’s Police reputation. Picture: Jason Edwards

Back in April Chief Commissioner Shane Patton was keen to repair the force’s brand damage. “It’s time to reset and reconnect with the community” he said. “We’re approachable, we’re involved … we’re here to help.

“We know we’ve had to perform duties and engage with people and it might not have been what they expected in the first instance because of the Covid environment we are in.”

But it’s going to take more than platitudes and a PR campaign to restore Victoria’s Police reputation.

There must be meaningful cultural change starting from the top.

You cannot restore trust while engaging in selective policing that sees BLM and Extinction Rebellion protesters treated with kid gloves, even when they break the law, while elderly women attending an anti-lockdown protest are pepper sprayed.