Victoria Police Reveals Mammoth Admin Bungle Caused Cops To Be Wrongly Sworn In
By Holly Hales
Victoria’s top cop has revealed more than 1000 police officers have been carrying out duties without the “valid powers” to do so.
Victoria Police’s Chief Commissioner has revealed the more than 1000 officers wrongly sworn in were working without the “valid powers” to do so.
Shane Patton made the admission on Thursday morning after the impacted officers, who joined the force between 2014 and 2021, were informed of the huge admin bungle.
When asked by 3AW’s Neil Mitchell whether the cops “weren’t legally police”, Mr Patton confirmed the extent of the damage.
“Well, yeah, pretty much … they were sworn in, but the person swearing them in didn’t have the valid powers to do so, so they didn’t get the powers of a police officer,” he said.
Mr Patton also said the saga could have “very bad consequences” for those affected.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton and Police Minister Lisa Neville made the announcement on Thursday morning
In total, 1076 police officers, 157 protective services officers and 29 police custody officers were wrongly sworn in.
The oversight meant deputy commissioners didn’t have the power to delegate acting assistant commissioners, which meant acting assistant commissioners didn’t have the power to swear in graduates.
Half of the affected officers are expected to be sworn in on Thursday, with priority given to those rostered on to work.
Another several hundred will be sworn in within the next 48 hours.
More than 1000 police officers are impacted by the admin bungle.
The mammoth bungle was initially revealed by the state’s Police Minister Lisa Neville in a press conference on Thursday morning.
“We’ve acted swiftly to address the issue after it was uncovered by Victoria Police last week and confirmed by legal advice in recent days,” she said.
“We’ll continue working closely with Victoria Police to ensure the work of officers in keeping us safe is uninterrupted.”
Ms Neville said the administrative error wouldn’t effect any police officer’s ranking within the force.
