A police commissioner's decision to fly interstate on a force helicopter could have had significant ramifications if there had been an emergency back home, a retired senior detective has warned.

Victoria Police Commissioner Mike Bush has apologised for using a force chopper to travel from Melbourne to Hobart on Monday for a meeting with his counterparts from New Zealand and around Australia.

A trip on a commercial airline between the two cities takes about an hour and there are approximately a dozen flights a day.

Retired Victoria Police homicide detective Charlie Bezzina said he had never heard of a senior officer using a police helicopter in that way.

"It would have been quite significant should a major incident have occurred and they were one chopper down," the ex-senior sergeant to

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