Death from a thousand cuts: the slow, deliberate execution of a chief commissioner

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This was published 12 years ago

Death from a thousand cuts: the slow, deliberate execution of a chief commissioner

By John Silvester

YESTERDAY Simon Overland formally finished as Victoria's 20th chief commissioner. He resigned two weeks ago. There were no farewells, interviews or addresses to the troops.

He leaves convinced his position became untenable, not because of his performance but by a ''perfect storm'' of enemies that left him with no choice.

Over and out: Simon Overland finished work yesterday.

Over and out: Simon Overland finished work yesterday.Credit: John Woudstra

He believes he was unfairly attacked by elements of the media, eroded by a lengthy campaign by the police association, weakened by a disloyal deputy and isolated by political opportunism.

Yet when he came to the job in 2009 he was the favourite for the post and a favourite with the media. He had been the face of the Purana anti-ganglands taskforce, was seen to be cool under pressure, smart, energetic and full of ideas.

He was a loyal deputy to chief commissioner Christine Nixon but was determined to introduce his own style. He may not have been exactly a new broom but he was certainly no damp mop.

So how could it go so horribly wrong?

1) ENEMIES WITHIN

Even before he was appointed chief commissioner there were those who wanted him to fail. Then assistant commissioner Noel Ashby wanted the top job and was prepared to leak information to damage his rival.

In the end Ashby would resign in disgrace after some of his more damaging conversations were secretly recorded by the Office of Police Integrity and aired in public hearings. Ashby still maintains he was targeted by the OPI because he was seen as a threat to Overland's ambitions.

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Police Association secretary Paul Mullett was another who did not want Overland to be appointed. Mullett was an industrial guerilla fighter who over the years clashed repeatedly with chief commissioners Neil Comrie and Nixon.

Mullett was charged by the OPI - although the charges were later dropped. He maintains he was targeted because he was in the anti-Overland camp.

While still deputy commissioner, Overland said he was the victim of a smear campaign. ''I know who is doing it. I am not going to say who it is. But they should know that I know who's doing it. I'm angry about it. I won't forget it.''

British policeman Sir Ken Jones was narrowly beaten by Overland for the top job and later appointed deputy commissioner. They had deeply divided views on policing, which led to a cold war that even professional mediation could not thaw.

In May, Jones announced his resignation effective in August, but four days later Overland told him to take leave and not return. The Chief Commissioner then made a formal complaint to the OPI accusing Sir Ken of leaking confidential information - a claim Sir Ken rigorously denies.

2) WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE

Christine Nixon was seen as a close ally to Chief Commissioner Overland but after her reputation was tarnished by her performance on Black Saturday and her subsequent evidence to the royal commission, he suffered some collateral damage.

Some in the press felt they had been ''played'' by Nixon, a consummate media performer, and they decided to be more aggressive with Overland.

On the day Overland was appointed, Premier John Brumby and Police Minister Bob Cameron attached his rank insignia on his uniform. The image left an uncomfortable Overland to deal with perceptions he was not politically neutral.

When Greg Davies was appointed Mullett's successor as Police Association secretary, he was determined to break down the combative relationship with force command.

''I would like to think we can open up some meaningful dialogue,'' he said when Overland was appointed chief. The new chief responded, ''I would like to think I have a good relationship with Greg Davies and I think we can work constructively together.''

They were being overly optimistic. They had a few working lunches but the relationship later collapsed, with the association lobbying for a royal commission on police leadership, and calling for Overland to go.

3) FORWARD PRESS (or, NEVER PICK A FIGHT WITH SOMEONE WHO BUYS INK BY THE BARREL)

At his first meet-and-greet with the working press after being appointed, the new chief decided to flex some muscle. Even before the gathered crime reporters could gobble down the yummy savouries (Peck's Paste is such an underrated product) he warned that if he found police leaking he would have them charged.

Some of those present saw this as drawing battle lines when there was no need for a war.

The first media group to turn was The Australian and the fallout can be traced to a joint Australian Federal Police and Victoria Police anti-terror operation code named Neath.

On April 4, 2009, the paper published details of the complex investigation on the morning police were conducting raids in Victoria. It was a major scoop, which had the rest of the media, including this paper, scrambling to recover ground.

Overland was furious at the initial leak and the subsequent detail provided by the AFP to reporter Cameron Stewart in a background briefing.

On the day of the raids he criticised The Australian for distributing papers before the raid in what he said was in breach of an agreement with the AFP.

Editor-in-chief Chris Mitchell accused Overland of sour grapes and said: ''No newspaper that was sold before the raids had any mention of them.''

A few hundred papers were available before the raids but The Australian had not breached any undertaking with the AFP and had sat on the story for several days to avoid compromising the operation.

Certainly the paper became a savage Overland critic. He believes it was a vendetta, while the paper maintains it was simply unbiased reporting.

One allegation was that he used confidential phone-tap information from a police corruption/murder inquiry to head off a media story that could have damaged his reputation.

Even when he was cleared by the Office of Police Integrity, Overland's cold war with The Australian coloured his response.

At a doorstop press conference on June 9 last year that should have been seen as a moment of vindication, the chief refused to answer questions from the newspaper he thought was hounding him.

It was a poor and petulant response, shifting the story from the positive OPI report to Overland's negative reaction. It tarnished his cool-under-pressure image and was an unnecessary own goal.

The spat with The Australian was ugly though hardly career defining. But when the paper's Victorian stablemate, the Herald Sun, began to attack Overland's leadership style, the Chief Commissioner was in trouble.

A traditional supporter of law and order, the Herald Sun began to aggressively scrutinise his actions - to the point where it devoted page one on July 7 to a story that he was due to speak to a fund-raising dinner for Xavier College (his son's former school).

The relationship with the paper further deteriorated when it was discovered that police had checked the phone records of senior reporter Geoff Wilkinson in a bid to identify his source over a story that relied on a police intelligence report.

Radio 3AW's morning host, the influential Neil Mitchell, was another who Overland saw as a savage critic.

Eventually Overland cancelled his regular appearances on the program and Mitchell started to compare deputy commissioner Sir Ken Jones favourably to the incumbent.

The irony is that Overland's broad vision for the future was not that far removed from his critics. He wanted more police on the beat, a flying squad to hit trouble spots, the reintroduction of promotional exams, a more disciplined force and less time spent on paperwork.

If he had survived he would have led a larger, more flexible force as the new government's promised 1700 extra troops began to hit the streets. But he had become isolated and the government tired of the controversies that swirled around him.

A critical Ombudsman's report on the release of police crime statistics was the final wound. If Premier Ted Baillieu and Police Minister Peter Ryan had stuck he could have survived, but they didn't. After all, he was not one of their appointments.

There was not one incident that caused Chief Commissioner Overland to resign.

In the end, he couldn't be heard over his critics and he knew the perception that he was under permanent attack had become the reality.

His was a death of a thousand cuts and he could not find a way to stop the bleeding.

JOHN SILVESTER

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