Ms Neville acknowledged that the reports and footage were “very confronting” and said it was appropriate for the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission to investigate, but said she did not believe it pointed to a wider problem within the force. She said police were out there every day, being assaulted, abused, spat on and sworn at while keeping the public safe. Loading “We are lucky in Victoria to have one of the most professional police forces in the world,” Ms Neville said. Ms Neville also took the opportunity to announce the beginning of tough new laws targeting those who ram police cars.

From Thursday, anyone who intentionally or recklessly rams or attempts to ram a police vehicle will face up to 20 years in jail. New offences that are intended to better protect police officers from violent attack include up to 20 years in jail for intentionally driving at an officer, up to 10 years for recklessly driving at an officer, and five years maximum for damaging a police vehicle. People who ram police cars could be jailed for up 20 years. Credit:The Standard The laws were passed last year, and mean that offenders cannot be sentenced to a community-corrections order, but face a mandatory two-year minimum jail term, with a presumption against bail. “This is tough legislation,” Ms Neville said. “It is in response to the behaviour of too manay offenders who have put the lives of police offices at risk using their vehicles, often stolen vehicles.”

There have been about 300 such incidents in the past 2½ years, Deputy Police Commissioner Andrew Crisp said. Assistant Commissioner Andrew Crisp. Credit:AAP This week, The Age published footage of a mentally ill pensioner being pinned down by six officers on the front lawn of his Preston home, beaten with a baton, doused in capsicum spray and blasted in the face with water. No officer involved has been sanctioned yet. In another incident, a man who had been violently robbing a pharmacy in Preston while in a psychotic state was repeatedly punched, clubbed with a baton and stomped on while being held down on the floor.

That incident has been referred to IBAC for investigation after initially being deemed by Victoria Police’s internal affairs unit, known as the Professional Standards Command, as not serious enough to require sanctions. An image from CCTV footage showing police pinning pensioner John to the ground. In a third case, revealed by The Age on Wednesday, a handcuffed young Indigenous man was thrown by an officer against the metal door of a cell inside Bendigo police station. He was left bleeding on the floor. Referring to the first two cases, Ms Neville said reports in the media contained “snippets” of the incidents and IBAC would review the entire footage before ruling on whether the officers’ behaviour was proportionate. Tamar Hopkins, founding lawyer of the Police Accountability Project at the Flemington and Kensington Community Legal Centre, said the footage in the media reflected a "Rodney King moment in Australian policing".

The beating of Mr King by Los Angeles police in 1991 sparked days of riots in the city after the officers involved were acquitted. "This really is a wake-up moment for the Victorian parliament, we're here to say that enough is enough." Tamar Hopkins speaks outside State Parliament on Wednesday. Credit:Justin McManus Ms Hopkins said the current "hybrid system" where Victoria Police and IBAC investigate complaints was not working, with most matters referred back to police. "It's really a system of police investigating themselves," she said.