Journey

17 June 2021 Kelvin Glare AO APM was the Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police from 1987-1992 and has a long career history of fighting crime and corruption both within and outside police forces. He was a fingerprint expert at the Fingerprint Bureau before quickly rising to Detective and then Sergeant before studying law and being admitted to the Victorian Supreme Court as Barrister and Solicitor. Rising through the ranks of Senior Sergeant, Inspector and Chief Inspector, Kel then created the Victoria Police Prosecutions Division training prosecutors in legal matters to secure convictions for the most gruesome of crimes. Then, as the first Assistant Commissioner (Internal Investigations Department), Kel rooted out corruption within Victoria Police including spending $42m chasing one corrupt officer over 2.5 years which he claims was ‘worth it’ because it ‘demonstrated that criminality wouldn’t be tolerated and will be chased to the very end’.

Kel was eventually promoted to Deputy Commissioner, Operations where he took charge of the entire force of uniformed police, traffic officers and detectives in Victoria. Ultimately, his time as Chief Commissioner has been remembered fondly by the public for his no-nonsense and apolitical approach to policing, and his focus on community initiatives such as the Police in Schools program which seeks to prevent crime before it happens. Kel is now Chairman of the Community Advocacy Alliance and is calling for recall elections to be introduced in Victoria to bring accountability to ‘out of control governments’.