Vic Police looks for new CIO

Victoria Police is searching for a new executive director of infrastructure to take over from the board of management, which had been put in place after former CIO Valda Berzins left the position.

A spokesperson for the police said that the board would be in place until 30 June and that the police were currently recruiting for a new executive to take responsibility of the Police's Business and Information Technology Services division.

According to the spokesperson, a more detailed set of organisational arrangements will be developed around IT management and governance.

Berzins had resigned last year as her department underwent investigation. Instead of directly appointing another CIO, a board of management was appointed to rectify some process issues within the department.

Victoria Police has been receiving some attention over the last months, with reports of an analyst review alleging that the Police's IT budget had an $89 million hole. However, the department said at the time that the report had been written using false assumptions and as such the difference between spend and allocated funds was significantly less. The actual shortfall was mainly due to supplying services to other departments, the Police said.

The Police also faced some criticism from a report by the Victorian Auditor General, which said that the Police's IT was unsuited to 21st century reporting. The department has been rectifying some of the report's issues via funding for a new database and HR system.