Victoria’s new top cop talks youth crime with Nova’s Jase & Lauren

In his first radio interview as Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police, Mike Bush joined Nova 100’s Jase & Lauren this morning to talk about tackling youth crime, outdated systems and his plans to rebuild public trust.

The former New Zealand Police Commissioner didn’t shy away from confronting the challenges facing Victoria Police, revealing that he is ready to lead with both strength and compassion.

Lauren: “Youth crime is a massive issue, and we are over it here in Victoria. People are off the state government for not doing enough about it, and we often talk to our Victorian police about how we feel so much empathy for the police on the streets who are spending so much time chasing these kids, locking them up they get released again … how do we work together to clean up this youth crime issue? Because we’ve all had enough.”

Mike Bush: “No-one wants to see young people detained in custody, and every one of their lives is a tragedy. So we don’t want to see young people there, but they’ve got to know there’s a consequence. So young people who think they can get away with repeat harm to others need to know there’s a consequence. And if that means depriving them of their liberty until they change their ways, then absolutely.”