Shannon Deery: War with top cop last thing Allan government needs

A fight with its chief commissioner is the last thing the state government wants at a time when youth crime is soaring, family violence rates are up and protest activity is becoming increasingly volatile.

The Allan government has been dragged into a fight it would much rather have avoided: a showdown with top cop Shane Patton.

After almost a year of negotiations over a new pay deal, Patton won’t be swayed on the police union’s key demand – the introduction of nine-hour shifts.

It places the Commissioner at odds with the government, which is supportive of the proposed rostering arrangement.

A war with its chief commissioner is the last thing the government needs at a time when youth crime is soaring – according to the latest crime statistics – family violence rates are up and protest activity is becoming increasingly volatile.

At a time when the government should be working proactively with police and other stakeholders on major justice reforms it is trying to implement, such as raising the age of criminal responsibility, it is instead locked in a messy pay dispute.

And it needn’t have been this way.

Shane Patton won’t be swayed on the police union’s key demand of nine-hour shifts. Picture: Jason Edwards

In December the government, the Police Association and Victoria Police signed an agreement that they would work to implement the new model.

It was seen as a major breakthrough in negotiations amid industrial action that was on the verge of being escalated and would have seen police implement a ban on issuing penalty notices and refuse to patrol major events.

But on Monday, Victoria Police appeared to renege on the agreement, rejecting an independent mediator’s recommendation the force implement the new rostering model.

It was a move government sources said had caused much frustration within the highest level of government.

How that plays out could have far-reaching political consequences.

There must of course be a separation of powers between the government and its police force.

But that doesn’t mean political pressure can’t and won’t be applied to Patton to roll over.

In 2002, NSW chief commissioner Peter Ryan resigned amid allegations of political interference in operational police decision making.

Pressure could similarly be applied to Patton, but it would risk interfering with his ability to independently make police rostering decisions.

Police are pushing for nine-hour shifts. Picture: Zizi Averill

Police sources say this is a hill Patton is willing to die on.

He has vehemently opposed the introduction of the new working model and is relying on internal modelling he says shows the move – when applied solely to regional uniformed members up to the rank of senior-sergeant – would require an additional injection of police at an estimated cost of $1.548bn.

“The reality is this proposal would seriously undermine our capacity to keep the community safe and further burden our already stretched resources,” Patton told members in an email last November.

“If nine-hour shifts were rolled out to all members across the organisation, the number of extra police required, and associated costs, would blow out to $3.189bn.

“For those reasons, it’s not something that Victoria Police is able to negotiate on because we cannot sustain this impact on our service delivery and our budget. We simply can’t afford it.”

Victoria Police went on to sign an agreement that it would implement the model, providing it cost no extra money or required no extra resources.

Patton maintains it can’t be done.

Despite the separation of powers we would like to think exist, in reality Victoria Police is not so far removed from its government.

Police patrol the streets of Melbourne at the start of a 'circuit breaker' lockdown imposed suddenly by the Victorian government in 2021. Picture: Chris Putnam/Future Publishing

We need only cast our minds back to the Covid era to remember when police were deployed at the whim of the government to enforce restrictions – such as the playground ban the Police Association publicly opposed – and Daniel Andrews stood side-by-side with Patton to warn protesters to stay away from the city.

The chief commissioner is, after all, a political appointment.

In the ad seeking expressions of interest for the role immediately before Patton was appointed, it stated multiple times the role required the ability to support government priorities, including the development and implementation of policing strategies which accord with those government priorities.

The Allan government may consider Patton’s refusal to play ball on this issue out of step with his responsibilities.

Few can remember a police dispute dragging on this long.

Those backing the new rostering model say it will address both unpaid overtime and burnout, and could keep experienced officers in the job longer.

Both a working group and mediator have said the major roster reform can work, so is Patton’s ongoing rejection a case of personal pride over pragmatism?

Few people can remember a police dispute dragging on this long.

Whatever the reason, the dispute looms as the single biggest police versus state crisis to plague the force since the 2011 ‘Overland affair’ sent shockwaves through the police force and the state government.

The affair and its fallout sparked multiple resignations, including that of then premier Ted Baillieu.

Overland resigned after being found to have released misleading crime statistics ahead of a state election.

That was a matter of accountability.

In a battle with the government, Patton will be fighting for control.

And without its backing, and with a contract due to expire next year, it will be interesting to see who wins.

Shannon Deery is state politics editor.