‘He wants to be sincere and form genuine relationships, not just going out for the sake of a public relations stunt’: Police source

When a Melbourne Synagogue was set alight it was thought the state’s new top cop might front the media — instead Mike Bush went to the house of worship in plain clothes, going unnoticed. It said a lot about the way he plans to go about his job.

Mike Bush has faced a huge workload, but deliberately kept a low-profile in his first 12 days as Victoria’s top cop.

Immediately after being sworn in on June 27, the new Victoria Police Chief Commissioner headed to the Dandenong station to talk to members about the many challenges in one of the state’s busiest policing zones.

Since then, he has spent time with officers at Melbourne West, Melbourne North, Melbourne East, Prahran, St Kilda, Warrnambool, Colac and Corio.

“He’s big on listening to the workforce. He wants to hear directly from them,” a senior source said. “He had a strong focus on frontline neighbourhood policing,” that boss said.

New Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush met members at St Kilda police station in his first week on the job. Picture: Supplied

On Saturday night, he attended the Hawthorn-St Kilda match, which annually commemorates the lives of murdered police officers Gary Silk and Rodney Miller, who served at St Kilda and Prahran respectively.

Outside of the force, there has been a degree of consternation about the former New Zealand police chief’s lack of public presence – something sources say is by design.

When an arsonist set fire to the front of the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation Synagogue on Friday night, there was an expectation in some quarters that he may face the media with his thoughts.

Instead, the Herald Sun has been told, Mr Bush went to the house of worship in plain clothes on Saturday morning, going unnoticed as he looked over the damage from the outside.

He later contacted Jewish Community Council of Victoria CEO Naomi Levin and is on Wednesday set to have high-level talks with the faith’s community leaders at a time of heightened concern among their congregation.

Top cop Mike Bush wants to be “sincere”, sources say. Picture: Supplied

“He wants to be sincere and form genuine relationships, not just going out for the sake of a public relations stunt,” one senior colleague said.

A senior Jewish community source said there were “no concerns” about Mr Bush not standing up outside the synagogue, adding: “He was in contact with community leaders all weekend and will be meeting with them this week.”

Deputy Commissioner Wendy Steendam and acting Commander Janet Stevenson were also chosen to brief the media after authorities last week went public with allegations of horrific abuse of children at child care centres across Melbourne.

Mr Bush is understood to have decided they were the best people to do the talking because he had only been in the jurisdiction for days, while they had been across the complex inquiry for many weeks. “It’s not about him, it’s about reassuring parents,” a source said.

A veteran police source said the new chief “cares about people”. Picture: Supplied

Mr Bush’s busy start has also included dealing with the kind of tragedy which is a factor for all police forces.

He last week visited members who had lost a colleague to suicide and intends to attend the funeral.

“The most obvious takeaway is that he cares about people,” one veteran VicPol figure said.

He has told senior officers that he wants to trust them to make decisions, rather than having to tick off on everything and slowing the pace of change.

“He doesn’t want a bottleneck,” the source said.

After months of turmoil in the force, those at command meetings are optimistic, even some who were sceptical after his appointment.

“He will empower our people to be the best they can be and instil trust at every level,” one of those at the table said. “That is the best way to reinvigorate the workforce.”