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.
Comments