Mass Victoria Police restructure promises to free cops from paperwork and admin duties and put them back on the streets
A massive Victoria Police restructure will “transform” how the force operates by stripping cops of desk duties to divert tens of thousands of hours to the frontline in a bid to smash crime, Chief Commissioner Mike Bush has vowed.
Victoria Police will undergo its biggest operational shake-up in a decade as its top cop pledges to redeploy members overrun with paperwork to the frontline.
Chief Commissioner Mike Bush on Monday announced the major overhaul of the force’s “back room” operations, which included stripping back its top brass and shifting its focus to preventing crime.
He promised to unshackle officers from the administrative burden of paperwork and desk-duties to push tens of thousands of police hours back on the frontline.
Amid soaring crime rates and terrifying home invasions often being committed by children, Mr Bush said the Victorian public had lost trust in the police.
“We have a major crime problem here in Victoria,” Mr Bush said.
“No one should live in fear of people breaking into their home … violence in the street, violence at retail outlets.
“We need to police differently, we need a reset.”
Among the biggest changes announced was the establishment of a new command centre that would be given the power to deploy policing resources across the state 24/7.
The number of assistant commissioners will also be slashed from six to four.
Deputies Bob Hill, Michael Hermans, Wendy Steendam, Tim Hansen, David Butler and Karl Kent could lose their postings in the reshuffle.
Mr Bush would not be drawn on which senior members would be reappointed to different roles, but it is understood those two deputies would be among senior police tasked with heading up new investigation and support units.
The changes come after Victoria recorded its highest crime rate in history, with Mr Bush pledging to reduce crime by five per cent every year going forward.
A trial would remove sworn officers from police station reception counters and replace them with other staff within three to six months.
Mr Bush said 4000 hours that uniform officers currently spend manning front counters every day could be shifted to the frontline.
That could see more than one million policing hours dedicated to frontline work in one year.
Administrative roles — including paperwork that must be undertaken following an arrest — could be backfilled with unsworn members and retired officers keen to stay connected to the force.
Since commencing his role in June, Mr Bush said he was “quite surprised” to see uniform officers manning police public front counters in Victoria.
“Those things are really important but they don’t need to be done by frontline police officers,” he said.
Mr Bush said the changes aimed to “get in front of” crime being committed, particularly by repeat young offenders who appeared to show disregard for the law, saying their attitude “surprised” him.
“They’re committing some really serious crimes – for some of them that means life imprisonment,” he said.
“There’s got to be consequences … and consistency around that.”
Mr Bush said the “backbone” of the force — frontline officers — had not received as much focus or investment as specialised services.
“They are loaded past their capacity, burdened by bureaucracy and systems that don’t talk to each other,” he said.
“Our structures do not support them as effectively as is needed and nor do our back-of-house functions, technology or processes.
“If we are to prevent crime, then it starts with properly resourcing and enabling our frontline police officers.”
He said officers spent 1.4 million hours a year staffing reception counters at police stations.
“This is poor use of their invaluable skills and it’s not what they want to be doing,” he said.
“We must get more police — your police — out of their stations and onto the streets where they can respond to and deter crimes.
Mr Bush said the scourge of home invasions unfolding regularly across Melbourne was “abhorrent” and put innocent Victorians’ safety at risk.
His community and stakeholder engagement in recent weeks included a chat with legendary former Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse — who chased an intruder out of his home with an exercise bar.
Mr Bush said another major drain on resources was more than 25,000 policing shifts being spent on patrolling the weekly pro-Palestine protests since October 2023, and other demonstrations.
The changes are also set to streamline paperwork processes for officers responding to domestic violence call-outs
“Our staff spend a lot of time on each incident,” Mr Bush said.
Mr Bush said he anticipated the changes, due to be rolled out over the coming months, would help reduce crime in the near future.
“This is a long build, but some of this we are going to set up right away,” he said.
Police Association Secretary Wayne Gatt welcomed the changes.
“A frontline and preventative focus is something we’ve long advocated for and will continue to support,” he said.
“We will take some time to consider the changes made under this review and we will have an open dialogue with all of our members, both those directly impacted and our membership more broadly, about its impacts on their work going forward.
“This is a challenging time for the Victorian community and we understand the need to meet that challenge.”
