Victoria Police

A couple of years after the first Europeans settled there, in September 1836 the area around Melbourne, known as the District of Port Phillip, became part of the colony of New South Wales. From 1851 until 1901 it became the Colony of Victoria, with its own government within the British Empire. In 1901 it became a state of the new Commonwealth of Australia.[9]

Mounted officers of the Victoria Police

The early settlers of Melbourne provided their own police force, and in 1840 there were 12 constables who were paid two shillings and nine pence per day, and the chief constable was Mr. W (Tulip) Wright.[10] Charles Brodie followed Wright as chief constable in 1842 and was succeeded by W. J. Sugden, who held the positions of 'town chief constable' and superintendent of the local fire brigade.[10] By 1847, there were police in 'country centres', and the Melbourne force was composed of 'one chief officer, four sergeants, and 20 petty constables'.[10] There was also 'a force of 28 mounted natives' enlisted and trained by DeVilliers and, later, Captain Pulteney Dana.[10]

Mounted Police - Gold escort guard - Mt Alexander (1852) by "S.T.G." (S. T. Gill), from his "Sketches of the Victoria Gold Diggings and Diggers As They Are"

The Snodgrass Committee was established in early 1852 to "identify the policing needs of the colony", and, following the committee's report in September 1852, the Victoria Police was formally established on 8 January 1853[11] from an existing colonial police force of 875 men. Later that month, William Henry Fancourt Mitchell was 'gazetted as Chief Commissioner of Police for the Colony of Victoria'.[12]

In 1853, Victoria Police was the first police organisation in Australia who merged all its police entities into one organisation under Victoria Police Chief Commissioner William Mitchell. Victoria continues to be the only state in Australia with a Chief Commissioner of Police.[13]

Their first major engagement was the following year, 1854, in support of British soldiers during the events leading up to, and confrontation at, the Eureka Stockade where some miners (mostly Irish), police and soldiers were killed. From a report at the time: 'the troops and Police were under arms, and just at the first blush of dawn they marched upon the camp at Eureka'.[14]

Mitchell resigned as Chief Commissioner, and Charles MacMahon was appointed acting chief commissioner that same year.[15] After the formation of the Victorian Police, the first recorded death on duty was Edward Gray in 1853, followed by William Hogan in 1854, both of drowning.[16]

The following couple of decades saw the growth of the police force, including the beginning of construction of the Russell Street police station in 1859.[17]

Clockwise from top left: Constable Lonigan, Sergeant Kennedy, Constable McIntyre and Constable Scanlon.

Mounted police outside the Sarah Sands Hotel in Brunswick awaiting a march by the unemployed in 1893.

Six years later, three more officers (Kennedy, Lonigan and Scanlan) who were hunting the Kelly Gang, were killed by them at Stringybark Creek.[18][19] Two years later, in 1880, the police confronted the Kelly Gang at Glenrowan. A shoot-out ensued on 28 June, during which three members of the Kelly Gang were killed and following which Ned Kelly was shot and captured.[20]

In 1888, senior constable John Barry produced the first Victoria Police Guide, a manual for officers.[21] (The Victoria Police Manual, as it is now known, remains the comprehensive guide to procedure in the Victoria Police.) Police officers were granted the right to vote in parliamentary elections the same year.[22]

In 1899, the force introduced the Victoria Police Valour Award to recognise the bravery of members.[23] Three years later, in 1902, the right to a police pension was revoked.[24]

In October 1917, Victoria Police appointed Madge Connor as a 'police agent'—while not a full sworn officer, Connor was the first woman to be made a member of a police service in Victoria,[25] and was one of four women to be sworn in as officers in 1924, after she led a successful campaign for equal pay and status within the force.[26]

On 31 October 1923, members of the Victoria Police Force refused duty and went on strike over the introduction of a new supervisory system. The police strike led to riots and looting in Melbourne's central business district. The Victorian government enlisted special constables, and the Commonwealth of Australia called out the Australian military. Victoria Police are the only Australian Police Service to ever go on strike.

Only a few of the strikers were ever employed as policemen again, but the government increased pay and conditions for police as a result. Members of the Victoria Police (as its officers are generally known) now have among the highest union membership rates of any occupation, at well over 90%. Their union, Police Association Victoria, remains a very powerful industrial and political force in Victoria.

In the 1980s and 1990s allegations were made against most Australian police forces of corruption and graft, culminating in the establishment of several Royal Commissions and anti-corruption watchdogs. Inquiries have also been held into Victoria Police (Beach et al.). The force was criticised because members of the public (both innocent and guilty) were being fatally shot at a rate exceeding that of all other Australian police forces combined.[27] Related criticisms emerged after the 2008 killing of Tyler Cassidy by Victoria Police officers, which was partly blamed on inadequate training. In later years, numerous edits were made to the Wikipedia article about the killing from police computers, in an attempt to give a more favourable impression of the officers' conduct and the subsequent investigation.[28]

In 2001, Christine Nixon was appointed Chief Commissioner, becoming the first woman to head a police force in Australia.

In May 2004 former police officer Simon Illingworth appeared on ABC-TV's Australian Story documentary program to tell his disturbing story of entrenched police corruption in Victoria Police. He has also written a book about his experiences entitled Filthy Rat.[29]

In early 2007, Don Stewart, a retired Supreme Court judge, called for a royal commission into Victorian police corruption. Stewart alleged that the force was riddled with corruption that the Office of Police Integrity was unable to deal with.[30]

On 2 March 2009, Simon Overland was named as the new chief commissioner, replacing Christine Nixon, who was retiring.[31] In June 2011, Overland announced his decision to resign prematurely with effect from 1 July 2011 over what many assume were the allegations of corruption, the ombudsman criticism and the government pressure.[32][33][34]

In November 2011, then acting chief commissioner Ken Lay was named as chief commissioner after five months' caretaking.

On 21 October 2011, the police force evicted Occupy Melbourne protesters from Melbourne City Square. Despite 173 arrests being made, no charges were laid against any protesters.[35]

On 29 December 2014, Lay announced he was stepping down as the chief commissioner of Victoria Police after three years of service, taking leave until his resignation took effect on 31 January 2015. Deputy chief commissioner Tim Cartwright was acting in the role until a new commissioner was appointed.[36] On 25 May 2015, Deputy Commissioner Graham Ashton of the Australian Federal Police was announced as the new chief commissioner—he took up the role in July 2015.[37]

In April 2016, the treasurer announced an investment of $586 million into Victoria Police. From this investment, $540 million was used to employ 406 additional sworn police officers and 52 additional specialist staff, technology upgrades and an expanded forensic capability of Victoria Police; $36.8 million to replace and refurbish a number of police stations in regional and rural areas; $19.4 million to continue the Community Crime Prevention Program; $63 million to enhance counter-terrorism capability, including an additional 40 sworn police officers; and 48 additional specialist staff to investigate and respond to an increased terror threat. The budget also funds a package of initiatives for all Victoria Police employees to help deal with mental health problems.[38]

In 2015, Victoria Police employed The Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission (VEOHRC) to examine the nature and prevalence of sex discrimination, including predatory behaviour, amongst Victoria Police personnel.[39] Kate Jenkins was appointed the Commissioner[39] and, in mid December 2015, VEOHRC revealed its findings.[40] Shortly after, on 9 December 2015, Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Ashton apologised over the high tolerance and prevalence of sexual harassment and the sexual discrimination and gender inequality within Victoria Police. Ashton pledged a change of direction and the implementation of all 20 recommendations by VEOHRC.[41]

In December 2016, Police Minister Lisa Neville announced the recruitment of 2,735 new Victoria Police officers, the largest in the organisation's history as part of Victoria's first Community Safety Statement.[42]

In September 2017, Transport Accident Commission (TAC) notified Victoria Police of "anomalies" in the preliminary breath tests statistics data. TAC and Victoria Police analyzed more than 17.1m tests starting February 2012 and found that 258,463, or less than 1.5% tests were probably false.[43] As a result, in mid 2018, TAC froze $4m funding to Victoria Police operations. Victoria Police also started an internal investigation into the matter, notified IBAC and appointed former chief commissioner Neil Comrie to conduct an investigation into the causes.[44] A preliminary report suggested that unrealistic management demands of between 50 and 100 breath tests per shift was a possible cause to faking the tests. The methods used by police officers was that of placing a finger over the straw entry hole of breath testing equipment or blowing into the straw themselves.[44]

In December 2018, Premier Daniel Andrews announced the Royal Commission into the Management of Police Informants to examine the actions of Victoria Police in their handling of Nicola Gobbo who informed on her clients whilst working as a barrister.[45][46] The commission was established following the High Court delivering their decision in AB v CD; EF v CD in November 2018 in which they found Victoria Police to be "guilty of reprehensible conduct".[47]

All sworn officers start at the lowest rank of constable and are able to progress and be promoted to higher ranks.[61] After their 2-year probationary period, the Constable receives their confirmation and becomes a permanent officer of Victoria Police as a First Constable.

Constables are promoted in situ to senior constable after two years of becoming a confirmed Constable and successful completion of re-introduced Senior Constable exams. Promotion beyond senior constable is highly competitive. The newly promoted officer is in probation for 1 year.[7]

Leading senior constable is awarded "in situ" but only after assessments have been made against the senior constable's ability to move to the higher position. Leading senior constables are now capable of being upgraded to acting sergeant and it is expected that the position is one that people will move through as they are promoted.

Promotion to the rank of sergeant is based upon an application and interview process after a vacancy is made available due to transfer or retirement of a pre-existing sergeant. Senior constables must first successfully complete the Sergeant Level Pre-promotional Qualifying Exam. A sergeant normally manages a team during a shift, like Patrol Supervisor of a Police Service Area (PSA) for a shift. A detective sergeant is typically in charge of a team in a specific part of either local detectives at police stations or crime squads.

A senior sergeant oversees the sergeants and traditionally performs more administrative work and middle management duties, for example coordination of policing operations, or specialist work other than active patrol duties. General-duties senior sergeants are traditionally in charge of most police stations or can be a sub-charge (or second in charge) of larger (usually 24-hour) police stations. In each division, or group of divisions on a night shift, a senior sergeant is the division supervisor for a shift and is responsible for managing and overseeing incidents in their area. Detective senior sergeants are usually the officer in charge of crime investigation units.

Additional classifications are available for officers skilful enough, and upon completion of certain training and work-based performances, for classification of detective at senior constable level. Detectives also hold classification up to superintendent.

The PSU security division maintains static security at designated locations in Victoria, mainly in Melbourne metropolitan area. PSOs have specific powers for the area they serve.

Designated areas include:

• Melbourne's Supreme Court, County Court, Children's Court and Magistrates' Court
• Various suburban Magistrates' Courts
• Victoria Civil and Administrative Tribunal
• Department of Premier and Cabinet
• Victorian Department of Justice and Regulation
• Parliament House Victoria
• Government House
• The Shrine of Remembrance
• Victoria Police Centre
• Spencer Street Police Complex

PSOs are based on the Victorian suburban railway network and are deployed at all railway stations in the Melbourne metropolitan area. PSOs focus mostly on anti-social behaviour, alcohol and drug related offences, weapon offences, property damage, either individual or corporate, crimes against the person.

PSOs powers at railway stations include:

• arrest and detain
• search people and property – and seize items
• issue on-the-spot fines
• issue a direction to 'move on' from the area

Victoria Police employees, like those of their counterparts in other states police forces, are eligible for awards under the Australian Honours System, including:

• Australian Bravery Decorations,[66] namely the Cross of Valour (CV), Star of Courage (SC), Bravery Medal (BM) and the Commendation for Brave Conduct.
• Australian Police Medal[67] – The Australian Police Medal (APM) recognises distinguished service by a sworn police employee and is awarded on Australia Day and King's Birthday each year;
• Police Overseas Service Medal[68] – The Police Overseas Service Medal (POSM) recognises service by employees of Australian police forces with international peacekeeping organisations;
• Humanitarian Overseas Service Medal[69] – The Humanitarian Overseas Service Medal (HOSM) honours members of recognised Australian groups that perform humanitarian service overseas in hazardous circumstances;
• National Medal[70] – Available to sworn police employees only, the National Medal (NM) is awarded to specified categories of employees from recognised organisations for diligent service and good conduct over a sustained period. Issued for 15 years service with a clasp issued for each additional 10 years of eligible service;
• Public Service Medal[71] – The Public Service Medal (PSM) is awarded for outstanding public service and is awarded on Australia Day and King's Birthday each year;
• Campaign medals such as United Nations Medal For Service, when seconded or attached to an appropriate United Nations position overseas.

Victoria Police medal ribbon bars

Valour Award	Victoria Police Star	Medal for Excellence	Medal for Courage	Medal for Merit	Service Medal

• Victoria Police Valour Award – The Victoria Police Valour Award (VA) is awarded to sworn police employees for a particular incident involving an act that displayed exceptional bravery in extremely perilous circumstances;
• Victoria Police Star – The Victoria Police Star is an award for employees killed or seriously injured, on or off duty;
• Victoria Police Medal for Excellence – Awarded to an employee/s who has/have demonstrated a consistent commitment to exceeding the organisational goals and priorities of Victoria Police;
• Victoria Police Medal for Courage – Awarded to an employee/s who has/have performed an act of courage in fulfilment of their duties in dangerous and volatile operational circumstances;
• Victoria Police Medal for Merit – Awarded to an employee/s who has/have demonstrated exemplary service to Victoria Police and the Victorian community;
• Victoria Police Service Medal – The Victoria Police Service Medal (VPSM) is recognition by the chief commissioner of the sustained diligent and ethical service of Victoria Police employees. The medal issued for 10 years service with a clasp issued for each further period of five years' eligible service. Additionally the medal is available to former employees who left Victoria Police before the introduction of the VPSM on 26 February 1996;
• Victoria Police Thirty Five Years Service Award – The Thirty Five Years Service Award recognises employees who have an extensive and dedicated employment history with Victoria Police
• Victoria Police Unit or Group Citation for Courage or Merit – As per the Medal for Courage and/or Medal for Merit criteria;
• Victoria Police Department or Regional Commendation – A department or regional commendation provides recognition of exceptional performance or service;
• Victoria Police Divisional Commendation – A divisional commendation provides recognition of exceptional performance or exceptional service;
• Victoria Police Unit or Group Commendation – a unit or group commendation can be awarded at department, regional or divisional level;

ASP 21' baton in expandable and collapsed state.

Equipment is carried by officers in a nylon equipment belt, also known as a gun or weapon belt. The nylon belt, specifically designed to be very light-weight, was first issued in 2003 as a replacement for worn leather belts. The belt consists of one firearm holster placed on the hip (either side), one firearm magazine pouch, one ASP (baton) pouch, one OC Spray pouch, one hand cuff pouch and one holder for the portable radio.

Victoria Police started a roll-out of a new uniform design in June 2013 for sworn members, protective service officers, reservists and recruits. The new uniform was the first time in over thirty years Victoria Police had significantly changed their uniform, which at the time of replacement could be worn in over eighty different combinations.[72] The new design can be worn in either an operational or station/office dress configuration.

Other holsters can be added to the belt to suit members duties such as a clip to hold the polycarbonate baton or mag light. In 2007/08, the chief commissioner approved the issue of firearm holsters which could be strapped around the members thighs, to replace the low-riding belt gun holster. These holsters are not standard issue but are issued to members upon request, and are commonly requested by members who suffer from back aches (as a result of heavy utility belt), or those who find it more operationally sound to draw their firearms from a lower position (as this option offers a more comfortable reach).

Motorola Radio model XTS 5000 used by Victoria Police

A line of officers at a protest

Operational Dress of Victoria Police consists of navy blue cargo/tactical pants, a navy blue long/short sleeved undergarment or shirt, an integrated operational equipment vest (IOEV), a navy blue baseball cap or a wide Brimmed hat (common in rural areas) and black boots. When police members or protective service officers are assigned to duties where they are required to be easily identified, or for occupational health and safety reasons, a high-visibility yellow cover may be put on the IOEV. In 2018, a new style of ballistic vest was announced.[73]

Station/office dress consists of navy blue trousers, navy blue long or short sleeved shirts (which can be worn either open-neck or with a tie), navy blue peaked hat and black boots/shoes.

Some specialist units of Victoria Police, such as the Air Wing, Public Order Response Team, Critical Incident Response Team, Search and Rescue Squad and the Special Operations Group, wear uniforms which are customised to their specialist roles.

The Smith & Wesson M&P is the standard issue firearm of the Victoria Police

Officers are issued with the Smith and Wesson M&P semi-automatic pistol and also carry an ASP brand 21-inch expandable baton, Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) Spray, handcuffs and small torch. The vast majority of officers carry a Motorola brand portable radio (with or without handpiece) for use on either the Metropolitan Mobile Radio (MMR) or Regional Mobile Radio (RMR) network.

In the 1970s, officers were trained to use the FN Model 1910 .32 semi-automatic pistol which they could carry concealed in their tunic.[74][75] In 1979, Victoria Police began replacing the Model 1910 with the Smith & Wesson Model 10 revolver.[74][75] By the mid-1980s, all officers were routinely openly carrying a revolver.[74]

In the mid-2000s, Victoria Police was set to become the last police service in Australia still using a revolver. Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon was reluctant to transition to a modern semi-automatic pistol. The Bracks Labor government was convinced by the police association and made an election policy for the 2006 Victorian state election to allocate $10 million in funding which would also cover equipping all police cars with tasers.[27][76][77]

Nixon was placed in a precarious position as police operational decisions including equipment are made independent of government. In September 2007, months after the Bracks labor government had been re-elected, Nixon set up an Independent Expert Advisory Panel to advise her if the revolver needed replacing.[78] In March 2008, the panel recommended to replace the revolver with a self-loading pistol.[78][77] In May 2008, a police officer was shot in the leg during a violent shootout in which he had to re-load his revolver. The police association erroneously informed the media the officer had been shot whilst re-loading and called for semi-automatic pistols.[79]

On 6 June 2008, Nixon announced that Victoria Police would upgrade to semi-automatic pistols and would not be equipping officers with tasers.[80][77] On 29 April 2010, Victoria Police announced that the M&P40 semi-automatic pistol with a tactical light had been selected to replace the revolver.[81] The roll-out of the new personal issue firearm commenced in November 2010 with all officers required to complete a four-day training course over 18 months.[75][82]

On 19 December 2019, Victoria Police announced the purchase of 300 Daniel Defense DDM4V7S semi-automatic rifles.[83][84][85] The rifles will be issued to the Public Order Response Team (PORT) and four 24-hour regional uniform stations – Geelong, Ballarat, Morwell and Shepparton to be securely stored in vehicles.[83][84] Over 700 Victoria Police officers are to be trained in the use of the rifles to be able to respond to critical incidents. The roll-out of the rifles will commence in June 2020 and will be completed by the end of 2021.[83] The Special Operations Group (SOG) and the Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT) are both issued with the SIG MCX SBR rifle and a variety of shotguns.[86]

Victoria Police's fleet comprises a wide range of different vehicles including Mercedes, Volkswagen, Hyundai, BMW, Tesla and more. In 2018/19 Victoria Police introduced a revamp to their highway patrol fleet, which previously contained mainly Holden VFs. During the revamp, State Highway Patrol was also announced. SHP is the same as Highway Patrol, but it does have a different design as well as few different types of cars, including the Tesla Model X. SHP is not seen all that often as they are used more predominantly in non-metropolitan areas. Victoria Police's general duties fleet now mainly uses SUVs including the new Volkswagen Tiguan, Kia Sorento, Hyundai Santa Fe and Toyota Kluger. They also use 4WDs in rural areas Toyota LandCruiser Prado, Mitsubishi Pajero and Holden Colorados. VICPOL's main frontline response vehicle is their divisional 'divi' van. The first 'modern' version of this unit started out as a Holden Ute based on the 2010 Holden Omega.[87] Announced in 2010, VICPOL partnered with Holden to bring 200 of these vehicles to replace the old, aging divi van fleet of 160 cars, bringing an extra 40 divisional vans to VICPOL's fleet. Most VICPOL stations across the state have at least one divisional van including other general duties and specialist vehicles. In 2021, Victoria Police announced a new Divisional van to join the fleet, the Ford Ranger (see below). The new Ford Ranger includes numerous new safety features including CCTV cameras all over the van, including in the prisoner compartment, where police officers can monitor the prisoner at all times by flicking a switch on the rearview mirror.[88] Malvern and Maryborough were the first stations to receive the new van, VICPOL said it would take 14 months to replace the entire fleet of the older Holden Colorado divi vans announced in 2018. VICPOL will now be replacing these vehicles every three years. On 7 March 2014, the Water Police purchased a new catamaran vessel. The $1.9 million, 14.9-metre-long boat will assist in the search for people stranded at sea or washed overboard and during periods of total darkness, poor light and rough seas. The vessel has the ability to scan the seabed for sunken vessels, and a radar can be switched into heat seeking mode to help locate a person at night, or in situations of poor visibility and rough conditions.[89]

• 
  2014 Holden Commodore Evoke
• 
  Holden "Divisional Van"
• 
  Ford Ranger "Divisional Van"
• 
  Mercedes-Benz E400D
• 
  AgustaWestland AW139
• 
  Police boat

The main training for Victoria Police during the first 31 weeks, until a member becomes fully operational, is done at Victoria Police Academy.

In order to increase the Academy's capacity to accommodate the training of an additional 1700 police and 940 PSOs by November 2014, $15.4 million was provided to Victoria Police to upgrade the Victoria Police Academy in 2013–14.

The significant works include:

• an operational tactics and safety training complex with a new firing range, a ‘soft fall’ area for conducted energy device and defensive tactics training, and a simulator, which will be used for firearm and operational safety training, using bluetooth technology
• a new training system, called Hydra, which simulates a variety of operational scenarios, ranging from vehicle intercepts to large-scale criminal investigations and emergencies, such as bushfires
• a railway platform for PSO training, new classrooms for training, improvements to bathroom and change room facilities, a dining room upgrade and extra car parking space

Construction of a new police training facility alongside the new Victorian Emergency Management Training Centre in Craigieburn commenced in 2013–14.[89]

The new $30 million Victoria Police OTST facility will replace the existing facility located at Essendon Fields, and was due for completion in March 2015.

The new facility will house administration and training staff and include a specially-designed indoor firing range, scenario training village, classrooms, an auditorium, conference centre and fitness facilities. Police will be required to undertake compulsory training twice a year at the facility.