Policing is not a popularity contest – being a politician is

Emergency Management Commissioner Rick Nugent has had to lead us out of many potential disasters. As interim police chief commissioner, he will have to do the same.

The former Victoria Police deputy commissioner, who resigned in 2023 to take on the emergency service role, knows exactly what he is in for. He’s walking into a crime wave, a government wanting immediate results and a workforce shrinking as more police opt out.

Rick Nugent when he was Victoria Police deputy commissioner.Credit: Scott McNaughton

I saw Nugent take a graduation ceremony at the Police Academy in late December 2019. It was the week before Christmas, and the chapel was filled with proud family members as two squads marched in – nearly 60 men and women.

He spoke to every graduate, making them feel like they were the most important cop in the force.

One was the newly minted constable Josh Prestney, who came from a police family and received his badge from his brother. A few months later, he was dead, one of the four police killed in the Eastern Freeway truck smash.

Melbourne turned blue as a tribute to the officers, and the public and government came together as one in sorrow.

Buildings in Melbourne turned blue in a tribute to the four police officers who died on the Eastern Freeway. Credit: Joe Armao

Five years later, those relationships are near collapse.

What is clear is that the separation of powers, in which the government makes the laws and police enforce them without fear or favour, are also in tatters.

For more than 80 years, since the controversial resignation of the lying and bullying chief commissioner, Tom Blamey, police chiefs served with little controversy.

They were appointed by the Governor in Council and served until the retirement age of 65. This meant they were untouchable and could be dismissed only for gross misbehaviour.

One minister, who didn’t understand the rules, tried to pull the coat of the gun-barrel-straight chief commissioner Mick Miller. The minister said his driver had been pinched speeding, hoping the chief would make it go away.

Miller asked for the ticket and left. The minister thought the stitch-up was done.

However, days later Miller returned with the name and phone number of the officer who had issued the ticket. When the minister asked what he was expected to do with the information, Miller said: “I expect you to ring him to congratulate him for doing his duty.”

It was the last time anyone tried that trick.

Things changed when Jeff Kennett became premier in 1992. He put senior police on contract, meaning if they rocked the boat, they might not be renewed.

Kennett revoked his predecessor Joan Kirner’s decision to appoint deputy commissioner John Frame as chief, and instead head-hunted career Victorian cop Neil Comrie, who was then serving in Queensland.

Since then, governments have increasingly interfered in police operational decisions, looking for media photo opportunities.

Police stations have been built in marginal seats, not to fight crime but to win votes.

When the premier and police minister pinned the chief commissioner insignias on Simon Overland, it underlined the fact it was now not a Governor in Council appointment but a political one.

Then-premier John Brumby (left) and police minister Bob Cameron with newly appointed police chief Simon Overland in 2009.Credit: Michael Clayton-Jones

Consider the political decision, by a Liberal government, to recruit more than 1000 protective services officers to staff every railway station in Melbourne.

This was done without consultation with police, and while the public is concerned with street violence, it has meant hundreds of law enforcement officers sitting on empty railway stations doing nothing.

Since Kennett brought in contracts, every chief commissioner (except Ken Lay) has been dogged by controversy.

Shane Patton was executed by the government as efficiently as any gangland hit, using a bureaucratic gunslinger, not an elected official, to deliver the message.

The government is haemorrhaging votes from people concerned about a crime wave, and Premier Jacinta Allan has promised to recalibrate and listen to the community.

Then along comes a Police Association-inspired no-confidence vote in Patton. It was the key to one of the oldest plays in the book. Find a scapegoat, blame the victim and try to rebadge.

The irony is under the recalibration, many of the law-and-order policies Patton wanted will now become law.

The government has not recovered from the retirement of police minister Lisa Neville, who grasped the concept of practical policing. Since then, they don’t know whether they want to be tough cops or 1960s flower children.

In announcing Patton’s demise, Allan said: “I will always value the work of our police, and I will always back them.”

Except for Patton.

Police Minister Anthony Carbines’ comments that the no-confidence vote was unprecedented and could not be ignored are frankly ridiculous and suggest he would be better suited as an adviser to US President Donald Trump, where a dissenting voice results in the sack. Clearly, he believes the Westminster system is a brand of china to be used on special occasions.

Perhaps we are moving to the US system, in which sheriffs are elected, or better yet, we could turn it into a vote-based reality-TV show called I’m a Home Invader … Get Me Out of Here.

A no-confidence motion is not unprecedented – former chiefs Mick Miller and Christine Nixon were subject to similar tactics.

For the government to remove a chief commissioner based on a vote destroys the office’s authority to make meaningful and, at times, unpopular decisions. This is precisely why police and judges are not elected – so they have tenure to do their duties without facing the sack.

Allan said: “The overwhelming vote of police members ... it was an outcome that simply couldn’t be ignored, and it sent a very clear message that police members were looking for a fresh start.”

These words will haunt her. For if leadership is about popularity, how can she stay if the polls continue to show she is not the state’s preferred premier?

Remember how prime minister Malcolm Turnbull cited losing 30 Newspolls as the reason Tony Abbott had to be removed, only to lose the same number himself?

If the karma bus does hit this government, don’t be surprised if Shane Patton is behind the wheel.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.