An ill-advised interstate helicopter trip will likely hamper a top cop's efforts to turn around his embattled state police force, a leading lawyer says.

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush apologised for using a force chopper to travel from Melbourne to Hobart on Monday for a meeting with his national and trans-Tasman counterparts.

The Kiwi insisted the trip on a back-up chopper did not risk public safety or burden taxpayers with extra operating costs but admitted his reasons for taking it "don't stack".

"This doesn't pass the pub test and I'm particularly concerned about what the public think of the Victoria Police," he told reporters in Hobart before returning to Melbourne on a commercial flight on Wednesday evening.

"The public has got to trust us to make the right decision

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