Victoria Police to overhaul operations, cut bureaucracy, and boost frontline presence amid crime rise and staffing shortage.

Victoria Police, under new Chief Commissioner Mike Bush, is launching a major overhaul to address a 1,000-officer shortfall and rising crime, including home break-ins, carjackings, and knife violence. To free up frontline officers, the force will trial replacing sworn staff at station desks with civilians and create teams of former officers and admin personnel to handle paperwork, potentially saving 1.4 million hours annually. Leadership will be streamlined from six to four deputy commissioners, and a new 24/7 coordination center will enable real-time response to crime hotspots. Bush emphasized the need for consistent consequences to deter crime, possible mandatory sentencing reforms, and a full “reset” to rebuild public trust after over a decade without major restructuring. The changes, set to begin in months and take up to a year, follow recent bail law changes and a machete ban.