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Leadership team takes shape
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Editorial: Danielle Ford
Photography: Jesse Wray-McCann
The team that will lead Victoria Police into the future alongside Chief Commissioner Shane Patton continues to take shape, following the appointment of two new Deputy Commissioners.
Ross Guenther has been promoted to the newlycreated role of Deputy Commissioner, Public Safety and Security, while Neil Paterson is the new Deputy Commissioner, Capability.
The pair joins Regional Operations Deputy Commissioner Rick Nugent, Specialist Operations Deputy Commissioner Wendy Steendam, Corporate and Regulatory Services Deputy Secretary Susan Middleditch and incoming IT and Infrastructure Deputy Secretary Karl Kent in Victoria Police's Executive Command.
Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said the creation of the fourth Deputy Commissioner role is one of a number of structural changes planned to help Victoria Police evolve and ensure its senior leadership team remains focused on community safety.
“Ross Guenther’s extensive operational and business experience gained over 35 years in policing will bring a breadth of specialist and tactical skills, which will be of significant value,” CCP Patton said.
“Neil Paterson is a highly-successful and strategic police leader with more than 32 years’ experience, where he has consistently delivered outstanding community safety results, including leading a raft of intelligence-based policing reforms and offender management initiatives.”
DC Guenther joined Victoria Police in February 1986, following his brother into the force after a career as a professional musician.
Stepping into the second-highest rank in Victoria Police, DC Guenther said he was excited by the opportunity to lead the newlycreated Public Safety and Security Portfolio, which will be responsible for the Counter Terrorism, Crime, and Transit and Public Safety commands.
“The creation of this portfolio is an opportunity for a new approach that can bring these commands together to further harness the skill sets in the different work areas to best serve our community,” DC Guenther said.
“I want to promote the safety of the community, push crime down and ensure we maintain that same focus on the mental health of our people we have seen in recent years.”
New Deputy Commissioners Neil Paterson and Ross Guenther will lead Victoria Police's Capability and Public Safety and Security portfolios, respectively.
Drawing on an extensive and diverse career with Victoria Police, DC Paterson will lead the Capability portfolio, and with it, the organisation’s service delivery transformation initiative.
“When you spend a lifetime in policing, there are moments you look at things and think about how they could be done better,” DC Paterson said.
“The service delivery transformation gives us the opportunity to look at how we deliver policing – across all areas of the organisation – to the community for the next 20 or 30 years.”
The two Deputy Commissioner appointments presented an opportunity for CCP Patton to review and implement further changes to the existing Victoria Police Command structure.
This has led to the recent appointment of four new Assistant Commissioners.
Lauren Callaway is the Assistant Commissioner of Family Violence Command, Mick Hermans is the Assistant Commissioner of Counter Terrorism Command, Tim Hansen is the Assistant Commissioner of the new Service Delivery Transformation Command and Chris Gilbert is the Assistant Commissioner of Intelligence and Covert Support Command.
