Victoria's top cop Rick Nugent confirms he won't apply for ongoing job

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The future leadership of Victoria Police is uncertain - but a third commissioner this year is guaranteed - after the front runner to take on the top job decided to quit the force instead. Rick Nugent has been Acting Chief Commissioner since February but today confirmed he won't apply for the permanent role.

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00:00He's been back in blue, but only briefly.

00:05The more I contemplated, the more I thought about it, the more I knew deep down I didn't

00:10have it in me to do five years.

00:13Then Emergency Management Commissioner Rick Nugent returned to his police roots in February,

00:18replacing ousted Chief Commissioner Shane Patton.

00:22And it's been an eventful 40 days in the top job.

00:25The possibility of an IBAC investigation.

00:28Victoria Police have voted in favour of a new pay deal.

00:31I'm certainly very much enjoying the role.

00:35Apparently not anymore.

00:37Rick Nugent won't leave the force, he'll leave it as soon as possible.

00:41I've been considering this for weeks really, and I'd even drafted my email out to the workforce

00:49last week.

00:50For the Allen Government, it clearly came as a surprise.

00:53Have you spoken to Rick Nugent?

00:57Not in recent days.

00:59Some of us were advised by the Acting Chief Commissioner's office on Monday that he was

01:03reconsidering applying for the substantive role of Chief Commissioner.

01:08He'll remain in the job until there's a new Chief Commissioner.

01:11There's now instability across Victoria Police as well as Emergency Management.

01:14I don't agree with that statement, Nicole.

01:16Nugent says he was clear about his hesitation from the get-go.

01:20I was asked to fill in, in an interim capacity, I said I would.

01:25I did say during that phone conversation I'm not certain that I would apply, and they

01:30said that's okay.

01:31A complaint to IBAC about those machinations wasn't a consideration, he says.

01:36And I just look forward to working with IBAC very, very soon to actually resolve the matter.

01:40So no, that's not it.

01:41The ABC can also confirm Western Australia's Police Chief Commissioner, Cole Blanche, has

01:46been approached about the job, in a recruitment process being run by a private firm.

01:52Applications for the top job close on Friday.

01:56A short list of potential Chief Commissioners will in time be delivered to the government

02:00to pick a winner.

02:01But with the state in the midst of a crime crisis, the job of running the country's biggest

02:06police force could be a tough sell.

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