"It is too early, at this stage, to form a view about whether members should be stood down," he said. Mr Cornelius said police would wait for the results of an investigation by the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC). However, about six hours later, Victoria Police released a statement saying it was reviewing the CCTV footage and would consider whether "interim action" should be taken against the officers. "That will include consideration of whether any of the officers should be suspended from duty pending the outcome of IBAC’s investigation," the statement said. Premier Daniel Andrews said he had not watched the footage on Tuesday morning, but defended the police force.

"Victoria Police, as the nation's best police force, conduct themselves with professionalism and in my experience proportionate to the risk that they face," he said. Opposition Leader Matthew Guy labelled John's case "abhorrent" and said it highlighted the need for a better police complaints system. "All Victorians will be outraged by it," he said. Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius, acting head of Professional Standards Command. Credit:Justin McManus

When asked why the officers involved were not suspended immediately, Mr Cornelius said that they were now under scrutiny and, from his experience in the force, officers being watched often moderated their own behaviour. "I have to say to you that each of those members, knowing they are the subject of an extraordinary level of scrutiny today, will no doubt have occasion to reflect on their own conduct," he said. "It has certainly been my experience ... that the behaviour of members is significantly moderated once they become aware that their behaviour is the subject of scrutiny. "They are being watched by us, and watched by their supervisors." Mr Cornelius also had a message for John.

"John, if you're listening to this, I want you to know I was concerned by what the CCTV footage depicted," he said. Mr Cornelius stepped into the role of Professional Standards Command boss after the unit's previous head, Brett Guerin, quit the force in the wake of revelations by The Age that he was using an alias to post racist and repulsive comments on social media, including encouraging violence against Africans. In the year to July 2017, more than 80 police employees were charged with criminal matters. Two police officers were charged with assault and stood down from operational duties last year after they allegedly stripped, kicked and stomped on a fellow officer who was off-duty and drunk in Ballarat. IBAC is also overseeing an investigation into a police shooting at Inflation nightclub on Melbourne's King Street in July last year, which left two people injured.

Police had gone to John's home in Preston last September after his psychologist called triple zero to say she was worried about his deteriorating mental health. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video During the incident, an officer can be heard saying: "F---ing idiot, do you like that? Do you like that? Smells good, doesn't it?" John responds, "Oh my back, my back." John had not committed a crime and has not been charged.

Police union secretary Wayne Gatt said that the footage was "confronting", but added that "there's not much about policing that isn't confronting". He said the media had only presented snippets of what occurred and that it was unclear what took place in the lead up to the incident from the footage. "One thing I do know after 20 years of policing is that there's always two sides to a story," he said. Mr Gatt said the release of the footage may have been part of a political agenda to change the way complaints against police are handled. "All victims who might allege inappropriate contact [with police] have multiple opportunities to make complaints, either directly to police or directly to IBAC," he said.