Police Journal February 2022 by Police Journal

FEBRUARY 2022

POST-CRASH THE OTHER INDECISION PANDEMIC

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“… if we as police were to deal with “In this job things can go gravely wrong members of the public this way, very quickly ifdragging we don’tthe have the right chain, we’d open ourselves expertise and understanding.” up to criticism from management.”

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February 2022

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Police Association

President 10

For everyone’s sake, return police to the front line

E EDITOR

Not every cop wants to make a career of investigating domestic violence and child abuse. But some do, despite the vile nature of the offending. There’s choking and strangulation, sexual assaults, child grooming and abuse, stalking, criminal neglect, rape and murder. Six Police Association members from the Southern District Child and Family Investigation Section talk about the intensity of the work and heavy caseloads. But they also explain why they choose to work in their field of investigation – and why they want to stick with it. Operating in a completely different sphere are members of the police band. They might not chase crooks but Paul West and David Burvill-Holmes have taken their work as seriously as their colleagues do on the front line. They, too, talk about their job of the past 30-plus years. Police Association assistant secretary Steve Whetton looks at the problem of underpayment of police wages and the hardship caused by paying back overpayments. Dr Rod Pearce explains who’s most likely to suffer from bursitis, the physical actions which can bring it about, and the treatment considered best to fix it. Police Association president Mark Carroll writes of big numbers of police needlessly absent from the front line owing to a direction which hasn’t achieved its purposes. And, in Jobs you never forget, Senior Constable 1C Mark Kingsland remembers an armed hold-up which turned out to be high-profile Australian actors at work. Brett Williams brettwilliams@pj.asn.au

Publisher: Police Association of South Australia Level 2, 27 Carrington St, Adelaide SA 5000 T (08) 8212 3055 F (08) 8212 2002 www.pasa.asn.au Editor: Brett Williams (08) 8212 3055 Design: Sam Kleidon 0417 839 300 Advertising: Police Association of South Australia (08) 8212 3055 Printing: Finsbury Green (08) 8234 8000 The Police Journal is published by the Police Association of South Australia, 27 Carrington St, Adelaide, SA 5000, (ABN 73 802 822 770). Contents of the Police Journal are subject to copyright. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the Police Association of South Australia is prohibited. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the editor. The Police Association accepts no responsibility for statements made by advertisers. Editorial contributions should be sent to the editor (brettwilliams@pj.asn.au). 4

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Debacle: 1,912 police employees underpaid Health 31

Bursitis? Can I still play sport? Motoring 32

Isuzu MU-X Kia Sorento PHEV Banking 35

To renovate in 2022 Books 36 Cinema 38 The Last Shift 42 On Scene 44 Jobs you never forget 46

44 12

February 2022 12

The other pandemic

Child and Family Investigation cops deal with some horrific relational violence and abuse but they’re all highly qualified, willing to do the job, and thoroughly dedicated.

Never to give up music

Two police band members stepped down from the job on the last day of 2021 but have no intention of hanging up their beloved instruments.

COVER: Southern District Child and Family Investigation Section detective brevet sergeants Gay Kittel and Damon Roberts. Photography by Steve McCawley. February 2022

COMMITTEE Chris Walkley

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February 2022

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REPRESENTATIVES Superannuation Police Dependants Fund Leave Bank Country housing Commissioner’s Office Health Safety & Welfare Advisory Committee Legacy Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity & Intersex members

Mark Carroll and Michael Kent Bernadette Zimmermann Andrew Heffernan Andrew Heffernan Steven Whetton Julian Snowden Nadia Goslino and Andrew Heffernan

DELEGATES & WORKPLACE REPRESENTATIVES Metro North Branch Gawler Golden Grove Henley Beach Holden Hill Northern Prosecution Parks Salisbury

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P PRESIDENT Mark Carroll

For everyone’s sake, return police to the front line I

’ve spent almost my entire adult life in and around policing. Never before have I witnessed the extent of policeofficer shortages that are afflicting SAPOL right now. Last October, Commissioner Grant Stevens issued a direction for all SAPOL employees to receive COVID-19 vaccinations. He did not hand down this direction as the state’s police chief. He issued it under the auspices of the Emergency Management Act — wielding the health powers vested in him as the state’s COVID-19 co-ordinator. At the time, I wrote to the commissioner, requesting the specific government health advice which underpinned this direction. I assumed it would be clearly evident, and immediately available on request. This advice, however, has not been forthcoming. Two of the purposes highlighted in the direction were to: • “Minimise the disruption to (police) services due to the spread of COVID-19 amongst police workers, and • “Minimise the disruption to (police) services due to police workers being furloughed following possible exposure to COVID-19.” 10

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A disturbing reality is that many members have informed me there is no longer enough officers to perform proactive police work and target recidivist offenders.

At one stage last month, with the order in full effect, there were 335 members — all fully vaccinated — in quarantine. Together with the members who remain stood down — as well as between 200 and 300 members re-directed to COVID-related duties — the situation has sent SAPOL into a full-blown staffing crisis. Members are scrambling to cover critical front-line shortages. The total number of absent officers in SAPOL last month exceeded even the additional numbers the association successfully campaigned to recruit several years ago. Back then we demanded the government recruit 313 extra cops on top of attrition rates, to safeguard the future of our force. Yet, in January we had almost 400 officers — and counting — not working. On that basis, it’s more than fair to say the direction has not achieved two of its chief purposes. There are, of course, some very real and practical solutions to this. Officers stood down owing to the vaccine mandate should be returned to their roles. “Close contacts” with no symptoms should be allowed to return to work. And, in the final analysis, the rise and availability of rapid antigen tests should only make it easier for SAPOL to do away with these policies. Officers should be where they need to be — on the front line, dealing with criminals and victims of crime. A disturbing reality is that many members have informed me there is no longer enough officers to perform proactive police work and target recidivist offenders. In fact, the information coming to me shows this function has not been performed for some considerable time. On the police front line, we know there are risks to the community when recidivist offenders are no longer the target of proactive police work.

The sad reality is that, over the last two years, our society has become more fearful. We’ve become more isolated and less empathetic.

The public is seeing the effects of this every day, with frequent news reports of violent knife and gun crimes. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve scoured the morning news and read about another knife attack or stabbing in South Australia. And recidivist offenders with no regard for the law were recently involved in a shoot-out at multiple locations on Adelaide’s suburban streets. It all brings into question SAPOL’s ability to wield effective control over crime in the current climate. We need police back on the front line. We don’t need them acting as proxy SA Health workers any longer. The logical, common-sense solutions I’ve outlined could be implemented immediately to alleviate the shortages. And they are hardly controversial, by international standards. Countries such as the UK and Denmark have already moved to end all COVID restrictions and policies, including vaccination mandates. Earlier this year I watched the body-cam footage of Los Angeles police officers pulling an injured pilot from the wreckage of a small plane that crash-landed onto railroad tracks — just seconds before a commuter train smashed into it. The man’s life was seconds from ending, before these brave officers risked their own lives to save him from his inevitable fate. It was police work at its finest, a culmination of the years of training involved in law enforcement, combined with sheer courage and selflessness. These cops weren’t checking to see the vaccination or viral status of the man they saved. I’m pretty sure the man whose life was spared didn’t care about their vaccination status either. The sad reality is that, over the last two years, our society has become more fearful. We’ve become more isolated and less empathetic. It is time to end the fear. A message of common sense will be a winning one.

A western-suburbs icon Patrol Sergeant Mick Butler retired last month after nearly 50 years in the job. He joined SAPOL as a 17-year-old and retired as a fit 66-year-old. He spent his entire career on the front line. Members who were lucky enough to work with Mick would know not only of his passion for police work but also his deep care for his colleagues’ welfare. One of Mick’s most endearing traits was his ability to inspire younger members. He became famous for creating a positive, energetic, and caring work environment. Mick was an icon of the west. Those of us who worked with or just knew him will miss his invaluable presence on the front line. The Police Association wishes him a long, fulfilling retirement.

February 2022

THE OTHER PANDEMIC 12

Police Journal

Two arrests came in separate cases of alleged

By Brett Williams

domestic murder in Australia just last month. More critical than ever now is that Child and Family Investigation sections retain their most capable investigators.

February 2022

INVESTIGATIONS

t was one of those crimes that disgust the public and call for a highly specialized police response. A despicable act of violent shaking had left a vulnerable two-month-old baby boy with a severe, long-term brain injury. Paramedics – who understood him to be having seizures and struggling to breathe – had rushed to his aid. He was soon in a hospital ICU ward on a ventilator and with major internal head injuries, including a brain bleed. Detective Brevet Sergeant Gaye Kittel took on the subsequent investigation into the attack on the infant. Attached to Southern District Child and Family Investigation Section, and highly expert in her field, she soon had a suspect: the baby’s 14-year-old father. He denied hurting his child but Kittel went about gathering crucial evidence to prove his guilt and arrested him. She worked with other professionals like forensic paediatricians who established the “mechanism of the injury”. Also for her to prove was that no one besides the father was in the house where and when baby suffered the shaking. And, in other evidence-gathering, Kittel listened to prison phone calls her suspect had undertaken. She heard him talk to the baby’s mother, a 16-year-old who was still “really engaged” with the father. “What we see in a lot of these cases is parents siding with the offending partners instead of being protective of their own children,” Kittel says. “That can be really difficult to understand and work through.” Among the phone calls Kittel listened to were moments of casual conversation not even related to the baby. The father, in one exchange, asked the mother not about his brain-damaged little boy but whether she had picked up his Nike boots. While the young mother remained bizarrely loyal to her child’s abuser, Kittel – who holds a master’s degree in clinical psychology – never gave up trying to engage her. “She was quite resistant,” Kittel recalls. “But that’s where your skill comes in with trying to 14

Police Journal

be flexible around her relationship with the father. That’s then a point of engagement to try to work out exactly what’s happened.” Ultimately, Kittel caught the father out in a phone conversation in which he admitted that he had indeed assaulted his son. She was able to show that he had thrown and bounced the child on a bed but also shaken him violently above his (the father’s) head. Cops know that atrocities like this one abound. Both the closed and active case files of Child and Family Investigation sections are full of them. Kittel and her Southern District CFIS colleagues manage multiple cases of relationship-based offences simultaneously. On their caseloads are investigations into choking and strangulation offences, sexual assaults, child grooming and abuse, stalking, financial abuse, criminal neglect, baby and child deaths. The list goes on up to stabbings, rape, murder and attempted murder. At the centre of a current Kittel investigation is a toddler left with cracked ribs and a torn pancreas. Allegedly the victim of his stepfather, the 18-month-old wound up in intensive care but has survived. Kittel also has charge of a domesticviolence case to which she has had to bring her skills as a prescribed interviewer of vulnerable witnesses. Her interview subject was a nine-year-old girl who had allegedly seen her father repeatedly choke her mother and threaten her with a knife. “The (seated) nine-year-old’s feet didn’t even touch the ground during the interview because she was so small,” Kittel recalls. “It’s those small observations that stay with me.” The experience Kittel drew on in those investigations came from an eight-year stint with the Paedophile Task Force and her time (now six-plus years) with Southern District CFIS. She showed – and continues to show – that she and her equally experienced colleagues know the field of relationship-based offending better than anyone.

And what CFIS detectives and uniformed members see, as they investigate relational abuse and violence, never leaves them. Senior Constable Paul Adams joined SD CFIS for what he expected to be just a six-month stint back in 2008. Now, 14 years later and still with the section, he has likely investigated more than 1,000 cases of domestic violence. He speaks of victims he sees in hospital with injuries like shattered jaws and smashed eye sockets, all inflicted by violent partners. One repeatedly violent offender he recalls – and describes as “a giant of a bloke” – often slapped his petite wife so hard that he ruptured her eardrums. The wife never reported his ongoing violence until he one day slapped her in the head while she was holding their youngest child. As the impact of the blow sent her flying across the room, she lost her grip on the child, who also went “flying into tables and chairs”. Detective Brevet Sergeant Zoe Gooch remembers the repeated stabbing of a woman whose partner of only two months held her captive in 2018. He (the partner) had become violent toward the woman after turning up at her house unannounced but initially quite affable. With enough force to knock her off her feet, he belted her in the head with an object of some kind and then tied her up with a cord. Bashed and defenceless, she then endured hours of verbal abuse from him until, at one point during the night, he armed himself with some knives. He stabbed and slashed her legs, wrapped the cord around her neck, walked her around the house and told her she was in his control. As blood poured out of her wounds, the crazed man took her into the bathroom where he told her he intended to kill her. He also tried but failed to hack one of her fingers off before a wave of guilt seemed to wash over him. In his altered mood, he put the woman into her bed, lay down with her, and said they would die together. But she had the presence of mind to come up with a ruse to save herself. She convinced her attacker that a worker was due to turn up and would find him. And the tactic worked. He took off and she lay there bleeding as she called the police.

“He was sunk, and, in my opinion, sunk on that one thing that the child did, and that I managed to get from her as evidence.”

Senior Constable First Class Lauren Solly

After Gooch arrived, she checked out the house and could see “blood everywhere”. And, later, in hospital, she and her partner were to face a seemingly impossible start to their investigation. The ravaged woman lay in bed with her eyes swollen shut, blood over her face and through her hair, and her legs and arm bandaged. But Gooch had plenty of experience and specialist skill to apply to the task: she had performed multiple stints with CFIS throughout her 10-year CIB career. She drew on all that to help the woman provide a “very structured account” of the attack. Gooch stuck with the case which, owing to her investigative expertise, ended with a conviction and 10-year jail sentence for the woman’s attacker. Senior Constable First Class Lauren Solly, one of the most experienced of all CFIS members, allocates case files to investigators. She took on the role two years ago after she had herself worked as a domestic-violence investigator. And, like her colleagues, she can speak of many cases which remain firmly with her. One involved a girl under 10 and her father, who was sexually abusing not only her but also other members of his family.

It was up to Solly to get the girl to talk about the abuse her father had inflicted on her. All the painful details were, of course, necessary if a court were ever to convict him. Solly knew well the art of gathering evidence from children and so undertook the delicate process of taking a statement from the girl. Clearly feeling at ease with Solly, she revealed that, at night, she used to jam a pen under her bedroom door. Then, whenever her father came to prey on her, the noise he would make forcing the door open would wake her. “As soon as I took that statement,” Solly says, “all I could think was: ‘Oh, my God. This poor child. I just want to hug you and tell you you’re so brave.’ “But, as a police officer, I’m balancing that with: ‘This is fricking great evidence!’ ” Solly briefed the detective investigating the case and insisted that he check the bedroom floor for evidence to corroborate the girl’s statement. “Sure enough,” she says, “they (detectives) go lock the father up, and on the floor is this dug-out kind of indentation where she’s put the pen. “He was sunk, and, in my opinion, sunk on that one thing that the child did, and that I managed to get from her as evidence.” February 2022

Senior Sergeant Susan Lock is perhaps the ultimate authority on sexual-assault victims and child protection – at least from a police perspective. Her work with those victims, and as an investigative interviewer of children, extends back 30-plus years. Now a manager in Family and Domestic Violence in the Policy and Training Unit, she has the experience of hundreds of investigations on which to draw. Among them are cases like the one of an eight-year-old girl whom an adult offender sexually assaulted in front of her 10-year-old brother. The offender, then a family friend, had the okay to drive the children to his property in the family’s ute, ostensibly to see a horse. Once there, he separated the girl from her brother and tried but failed in his first attempt to sexually assault her. He tried again later, on the drive back home. Soon after starting out, he pulled over and ordered the brother out of the cabin and into the ute’s tub. The boy, however, would not leave his sister. So, the offender simply committed his assault on the girl anyway. He forced her into an act of fellatio on him – in front of her brother. Afterward, as he continued the drive home, he asked the children if they intended to tell their parents what had happened. When they said yes, he asked them to promise to wait until the following morning so he could say goodbye to his son. “The next morning, as they’re driving to school, the little girl disclosed what had happened,” Lock recalls. “She’d kept her promise of not saying anything. “So, the mum just turns the car around and brought her straight into the police station, and that’s when I interviewed her. And she was magnificent. “The detective on the case was magnificent, too. He really supported the family and did a great investigation. He worked in Child and Family and, again, it comes back to experience. “The offender ended up pleading guilty and got something like eight years.” 16

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“We’re dealing with the potential of putting children back into sexual abuse situations if we don’t have the right skill and expertise.” EXPERIENCE L

ock and others speak of experience as critical in the investigation of relational offending. That makes South Australia fortunate to have plenty of experience and perceptive minds among its current CFIS investigators. While those investigators operate without a hint of hubris, they know how much risk their absence from the field would present. Their expert advice is to leave investigators in place for unlimited periods. Metropolitan Operations Service management, however, compels CFIS detective sergeants and brevet sergeants to transfer out into other CIB areas within MOS every two years. “In this job,” Gaye Kittel says, “things

can go gravely wrong very quickly if we don’t have the right expertise and understanding. “We’re dealing with people’s lives. We’re dealing with the potential of putting children back into sexual abuse situations if we don’t have the right skill and expertise. We’re dealing with the potential for offenders to murder their victims. “We have to pick up on the subtleties of victim behaviour and responses and actually tap into that. We have to understand someone who perhaps isn’t reacting like we think they should, even if it’s hostile towards us. “We have to understand trauma responses, gather evidence and, at the same time, not retraumatize victims.

Detective Brevet Sergeant Gaye Kittel

“… you just can’t rotate people through on a regular basis. You need people who want to be there. You need people who have experience in working in the section.”

Detective Brevet Sergeant Damon Roberts

And there are jobs where our intervention stops children being sexually abused and changes lives.” Another onus on investigators is to understand the dynamics of nonphysical coercive control, like the constant monitoring of a victim’s whereabouts. It is a common theme in the offences they investigate and, as Kittel explains, a precursor to violence. “I can’t imagine a unit like ours running without our core group of experienced people,” she says. “Our investigations of relational domestic crimes are inherently complex, so it’s imperative to have our level of skill, expertise, dedication, interest and knowledge. It reduces risks.” Detective Brevet Sergeant Damon Roberts joined Southern District CFIS in April last year and five months later stepped up to relieve as a supervisor. Already he thinks of experience in the section as simply “vital”. “Because of how long it takes (for new

members) to learn the role,” he says. “And I’d say it takes 18 months to two years before you start to feel comfortable within this role. Even for me, with my CIB experience, it was a real steep learning curve.” Just one of many critical understandings Roberts had to come to was which, and how, outside agencies collaborate with CFIS. Among them are the ODPP, Department for Child Protection, Women’s and Children’s Hospital Child Protection Services, the Homelessness Gateway and the Migrant Women's Support Service. “They all have specific roles and different involvement,” Roberts explains. “And you have to know exactly what they all do. “So, with CFIS, you just can’t rotate people through on a regular basis. You need people who want to be there. You need people who have experience in working in the section.” February 2022

“(Imagine) you’re not an experienced interviewer and you go to interview a child in the matter of a serious sexual offence. And because of that (inexperience) the child makes no disclosures. “That offender won’t then be held to account and will go on to abuse other children, because these people don’t ever have just one victim. They have many.” 18

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Senior Sergeant Susan Lock

Detective Brevet Sergeant Rhys Williams served with Northern District CFIS for six months before he joined SD CFIS in December 2020. Even as a less experienced member of the section, he struggles to think of a relational offence he has not investigated or had a hand in investigating. But he has reaped the benefit of working alongside his seasoned colleagues, like Kittel and Detective Brevet Sergeant Hannah Clarke. “What I’ve learnt from them, and the skills they’ve imparted to me through their knowledge and experience, has been invaluable,” he says. “I think the area would struggle without people who have been there for as long as they have. They’re obviously there because they want to do the job and are good at it. To have those people there is invaluable.” Susan Lock explains that not all police officers can, or want, to work in the field of relational offending. And she insists that no one should work in a CFIS if it is not his or her preference. She speaks of the need for cops to be “the right fit” for the role. “(Imagine) you’re not an experienced interviewer and you go to interview a child in the matter of a serious sexual offence,” Lock says. “And because of that (inexperience) the child makes no disclosures.

“That offender won’t then be held to account and will go on to abuse other children, because these people don’t ever have just one victim. They have many.” Brevet Sergeant Colette Nunke currently works with Lock in Policy and Training and speaks with the authority of international experience. As a police officer in the United Kingdom, she worked in child protection and in South Australia has served with Victim Management Section. She considers that in her field, police deal with “the most vulnerable victims and witnesses in society” – children and young people. “So,” she says, “it needs to be the right person who’s engaging with them right from the start of the process. That’s why (investigating relational offences) is so specialized. “You’re looking for somebody who can engage with children, chat with people, be interpersonal, and recognize traumatic behaviour.” While CFIS members speak of the demand for experience, they also insist that no investigator would succeed without specific character traits. Kittel explains that if CFIS investigators were not naturally empathetic, compassionate, patient, understanding and non-judgemental they would never connect with victims. “That’s because you’re dealing with such intense grief in families,” she says. “And it’s such a fine line to cross between compassion and empathy on one hand and open-mindedness and suspicion on the other. “They don’t really go hand in hand, but they need to for a detective in this role. And there’s just so much skill involved in being one as well as the other.” Williams, too, speaks of the importance of those character traits which best enable investigators to connect with victims. “You need to build a relationship,” he explains. “You can’t just come up to someone and say: ‘Hey, I heard something happened to you when you were younger. Tell me about how this person violated you.’ “It doesn’t work that way. You need to give something of yourself. I can’t just be Detective Williams. I have to be Rhys as well. “I have to be a support for them, too, because I’m the one who knows the process. I’m the one who knows what’s going to happen and I need to prepare them for that.”

“The first thing they say to you once they get into some of the stuff, is: ‘My God, I never knew there was so much to do. It just keeps coming.’ ”

Senior Constable Paul Adams

PRESSURE W

hile the media have their slow news days and firefighters have shifts without any flames to extinguish, CFIS investigators know nothing of slowdowns. They speak of a continuously heavy workload which has around 20 active files allocated to each investigator at a time. Paul Adams has many times noticed how the “sheer volume of work” sparks

a reaction from unsuspecting newcomers to the section. “The first thing they say to you,” he says, “once they get into some of the stuff, is: ‘My God, I never knew there was so much to do. It just keeps coming.’ ” Damon Roberts, who calls the workload “huge”, explains how the section receives up to 30 notifications a day from the Child Abuse Report Line. February 2022

“About 130 intakes a month is not unusual,” he says. “They come to you as the supervisor and you’ve got to allocate them out. And these have to be actioned within 24 hours.” Roberts also explains that, in many cases, investigators have to “decipher” volumes of complex medical notes, analyse accounting spreadsheets, and scour government and non-government documents. Indeed, Roberts contends that “an investigator’s role is numerous professions cloaked as one”. And to hear a CFIS investigator describe his or her typical workday is to understand that it is frenetic. Kittel, for example, might start out with an interview of a child sexual-assault victim and, immediately after, respond to and deal with a domesticviolence strangling and rape. “Then,” she says, “I might come back from that and get a fresh job coming in from our daily influx of mandatory notifications from the Department for Child Protection. There’s a constant flow of those every day.

Detective Brevet Sergeant Rhys Williams

Police Journal

“Then I might come back from those jobs and there’s a phone call from a distressed mother who’s just found out that her child’s been sexually abused. And then, on top of that, you’ve got lawyers’ requests.” Just recently, Kittel saw two of her colleagues caught up in precisely the scenario she describes. First, they responded to a teen suicide. Then, after returning to the CFIS office, they had to respond to and investigate an alleged domestic-violence rape. In that case, they arrested a suspect and had to work overtime. And both investigators already had substantial caseloads. “We’re racing from one job to the next and to the next,” Kittel says. “There’s so many directions that we’re pulled into virtually every minute of the day. “So, there’s a lot of demand and a lot of pressure. The toughest aspect of the job for me is the huge volume of work.” And, of course, victims suffer through their crises not just in office hours but 24 hours per day. So, for reassurance, they sometimes reach out to an investigator in his or her downtime.

“It can be quite draining, but we’re really invested in what we do. We want the best for victims who we try to help, but it takes a lot (to get that).”

Says Williams: “I get after-hours calls from victims who say: ‘What’s going on? How are things going?’ Sometimes they just want someone to talk to for five or 10 minutes. “I don’t think you can be entirely removed from giving a part of yourself to each investigation. And, at the moment, I’m dealing with 21. “It can be quite draining, but we’re really invested in what we do. We want the best for victims who we try to help, but it takes a lot (to get that).” Some cite burnout as justification for the two-year tenure which applies to CFIS members. The idea is that, in such emotion-charged environments with such horrific crimes, particularly against children, no investigator can sustain his or her role for longer periods. But investigators, with their front-line experience and expertise, reject that notion out of hand. The clear consensus among them is that, if burnout occurs, it results not from the work but rather the workload. Susan Lock is among those who do not buy into the idea that tenure is best for investigators. “There’s research to dispute it,” she says, “by Professor Martine Powell. She’s done papers on it, and it’s not (the work). It’s probably more the workload. “So, you could move members within the branch so they’re still in that line of work, just to give them a break. “But it’s probably more detrimental to move somebody, who’s an expert and passionate, out of that role.” Kittel insists that one way to ease the pressure on CFIS members is simply to create time-out periods for them in the workplace. “Just to take a little bit of time to just slow down,” she says, “even for a few minutes. Just to talk to a colleague about the job you’ve just come back from is enormously important. “Not being able to have that space or gap in amongst all our jobs is an issue that can create burnout in the long run.” As much as CFIS members might try to forget about work on days off, it can and does easily creep into their thoughts. It is not so much the visions of bashed, hospitalized women or confused, fear-struck children that they find on their minds.

COMMITMENT Rather, it is an inventory of all the responsibilities they have to their investigations and associated victims. “I think a lot about whether I’ve managed everything and done all I possibly can for people, to keep them safe,” Kittel says. “If there’s a domestic-abuse murder on the TV news, I often think about my cases. Statistics show that, on average, there’s one domestic murder in Australia every week. So, I watch the news and hope that none of my cases are going to end up as the next murder on TV.” Gooch thinks similarly, particularly when she has to deal with a hot job. “If you’re home,” she says, “you’re thinking: ‘Have I done everything? Is everything in line? Is that person safe? Have I forgotten something?’ “It’s definitely a process to make sure you don’t do it because you could go home and think about it all night.” Even as he spoke to the Police Journal, Williams was thinking about the shift he was to work that afternoon (September 28). “I’m thinking of the statements I have to take today, the investigations I’ve got, which people I should call and catch up with today,” he said. “I’m always thinking of the things that I need to do. That’s okay for me: it’s something that I can manage and deal with. I am able to switch off, but it’s always there.”

f the Southern District CFIS members who spoke to the Police Journal, each joined the section by choice – and is content there. Outsiders might wonder how that can be, given the endless trauma, emotion and sheer evil investigators have to confront and, of course, the workload. The idea of a position in CFIS holds little, if any, appeal to most cops, as Zoe Gooch and others know. Says Gooch: “You hear people say, and I’ve had people say to me: ‘I couldn’t do that work. I never want to do that work. Couldn’t cope.’ “We want to be there and we find it can be difficult. I couldn’t imagine someone who didn’t want to be there (in terms of) how difficult they’d find it. I’d feel for that person.” To Damon Roberts, CFIS does have appeal, despite what he has seen: women so severely bashed that they cannot see out of their bloodshot eyes owing to strangulation. He has also seen bruised, battered children who wrongly thought that they deserved their injuries. The father of two concedes that he finds it “challenging” to deal with offenders who think nothing of “bashing their partners and children”. “It’s genuinely heartbreaking,” he says, “(but) I love the work. I love dealing with these victims and being able to help them. “The people who work in CFIS are so dedicated to their job and love what they do.” Lauren Solly also found it tough to deal with upset child victims of domestic and sexual abuse. She had seen plenty of gore and dead bodies as cops do early in their police careers. But, for her, nothing compared with “the rawness” of children who had to relive their horror for her to document.

February 2022

Detective Brevet Sergeant Zoe Gooch

“I’ve been back and forth between CFIS and other sections, so I’ve known when I’ve needed a change and I’ve made that decision myself.

It was sometimes hard for her to contain her emotion but she was in the environment in which she had always wanted to work – and “make a difference”. “I could be that person talking to the mother or the children or the dad and trying to get people on side to make better choices,” she says. “I don’t think there’s a better role that you can deal with in the police department than help people from that perspective.” Gooch, a mother of two, sees child victims as unable to be a voice for themselves. So, simply acting for children has been the motivation for her to commit herself to CFIS. Like her colleagues, she finds aspects of the job stressful. Striving to get disclosures from children in the interview process is one she highlights. But the stresses of the job in no way diminish her commitment. “I’m passionate about the work,” she says. “I’ve been in sections where it was harder for me to arrive every day and do the work than it is (at CFIS). 22

Police Journal

“I don’t feel that, with the experience I have, I need someone making that decision for me. I’m an adult; and I want to be doing this work long-term, so I think I can make that decision.” “I’ve been back and forth between CFIS and other sections, so I’ve known when I’ve needed a change and I’ve made that decision myself. “I don’t feel that, with the experience I have, I need someone making that decision for me. I’m an adult; and I want to be doing this work long-term, so I think I can make that decision.” Kittel highlights the international view of relational offending: that it is a

worldwide crisis, a silent pandemic. She acknowledges the role of other agencies’ responders but considers police capable of having the most impact. Ultimately, she regards it as simply a privilege to “care for people on the worst day of their lives”. “I’m really at my best when I’m in that sort of role,” she explains. “And, at the end of the day, we’re keeping children safe, so I find it intensely satisfying.”

“The key to it (success in the field) is sufficient training and retaining investigators with those skills and S experience.”

TRAINING

usan Lock speaks of the job of a CFIS investigator as a “specialist role” which demands specialized training. She now uses her vast experience for that purpose: to develop and provide high-quality training for child-abuse investigators. “Children do make good witnesses, providing adults ask good questions,” she says. “That requires ongoing training and regular practice in the skills. “It’s no good if you’ve done a training course two years ago and are then expected to interview a child. If you’re not regularly using your skill you’ll lose it, and research shows that.” Colette Nunke, who works with Lock, emphasizes the importance of training the right people to qualify as prescribed interviewers. “We want to train people who want to progress (in this specialist field) and use that skill on a regular basis,” she says. “The key to it (success in the field) is sufficient training and retaining investigators with those skills and experience.” Of the courses Lock and her colleagues have developed, one is based on the interagency code of practice and teaches how to investigate allegations of child abuse.

Brevet Sergeant Colette Nunke

It runs for three days and focuses on working with external agencies to provide a holistic response to child protection. “If you want to go on to become a prescribed interviewer,” Lock says, “you can then apply for a planned intensive five-day course. “It will only be for a small number of participants and there’s lots of theory but also lots of practice. “After that, it’s about regular refresher training and also getting these prescribed interviewers to submit their interviews and we’ll assess them. “It’s really about turning the role of interviewing vulnerable witnesses into a specialist role.” PJ

Since taking part in their interviews for this story: • Detective Brevet Sergeant Rhys Williams has left Southern District CFIS and returned to SD CIB. • Detective Brevet Sergeant Zoe Gooch has been furloughed and is therefore not currently working with Southern District CFIS. February 2022

Police Journal

Never to give up music By Brett Williams

Left: Constable David Burvill-Holmes and Senior Constable 1C Paul West

rumpeter Paul West had one specific thought in mind as he played the haunting Last Post at Police Remembrance Day ceremonies: “Don’t screw it up.” Flautist David Burvill-Holmes thought similarly as he played an improvised piece at the funeral of Assistant Commissioner Kevin Harvey: “I’ve got to do this (perfectly).” But neither musician ever faltered in those intensely emotional environments which were part of his distinguished service as a police band member. West aimed not just to play but to be “part of the moment” when it came to the Last Post. And he figured he had played flawlessly if, on Remembrance Day, tears flowed from older observers in the front row. That was the kind of emotion Burvill-Holmes sparked as he played his improvised funeral piece in G minor.

“As I started playing,” he says, “the whole (Harvey) family virtually started sobbing loudly. It became a moment where I was very focused on what I was doing and I felt the gravity of the situation.” These were some of the moments the two reflected on as they prepared to retire late last year, after a combined 70 years’ service. December 31 was their last day as members of the Band of the SA Police and the Police Association. And likely the strongest memory West has taken into retirement is the day he played at Centennial Park for the burial of Senior Constable Bob Sobczak. The Holden Hill motorcycle officer had died on duty in a highway collision in 2002. “I was the bugler,” West says. “The whole band was there playing but I had to go to the graveside and do my part. All the traffic guys were right behind me, crying their eyes out.”

West, who also plays the French horn, joined SAPOL in 1984 and completed the first month of a 12-month course. It was the same month in which the band turned 100. West had graduated from the SA College of Advanced Education with a Bachelor of Arts degree (music) and intended to join an orchestra. And, for that reason, he knocked back an offer to join the police band in 1977. After college, he played in the Navy Reserve Band one night a week while his day job was in sales with Telecom Australia. One important connection he made in the navy band was Doug Drysdale, the then future director of music for the SA police band. Drysdale told him of jobs on offer with the police band and West applied for one. He scored an audition and “eventually got in”. February 2022

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Burvill-Holmes – who plays the flute, saxophone, bass drum and bell lyre – joined SAPOL in July 1988 and played with the band on his first day. It was a school performance and, for BurvillHolmes, came with a first-day mishap. “I didn’t have the uniform and I was introduced as the new guy and I fell off the stage,” he says. “I don’t know why I fell but I knocked a stand over and (sheet) music went everywhere. “My colleague next to me made light of it. He said: ‘As I was saying, this young man has just started so the fact that he fell off the stage, we accept that.’ ” Burvill-Holmes completed the first month of recruit training with 10 other specialist recruits, mostly musicians, attached to Course 24. He had undertaken four years’ full-time study at the Elder Conservatorium of Music and graduated with honours (Bachelor of Music). “From there,” he says, “I went on to teach at a couple of schools. I had 83 students and was just doing that from one term to the next.” Then came a phone call from a police band member Burvill-Holmes had known at the conservatorium. His news was that the police band’s flautist was leaving. His suggestion was that, if Burvill-Holmes was interested, he should audition. “And I did,” he says, “and managed to score the job.” Burvill-Holmes’ peers consider him a standout player of the bass drum. But he had never once thumped the instrument until he agreed to fill in for the band’s regular bass drummer, who had taken ill. After the performance, Drum Major Sergeant Ken Ekin wanted to know if his fill-in drummer liked the experience. Burvill-Holmes replied: “Well, I’ve only hit it (the drum) about 61 times but, so far, I’m enjoying it.”

“I didn’t have the uniform and I was introduced as the new guy and I fell off the stage. I don’t know why I fell but I knocked a stand over and (sheet) music went everywhere.”

From that fill-in performance, he became and remained the full-time bass drummer of the Band of the SA Police. And West explains how the band members gave Burvill-Holmes the made-up title of Pan Pacific bass drumming champion. “It’s his timing and he’s just rock-solid, loud and crisp,” West says. “When we did massed bands at tattoos, they’d say: ‘The SAPOL bass drummer, everyone listen to him. He’s driving.’ That’s quite an honour and quite an important role when you’re keeping 300 musicians in time.” Burvill-Holmes also joined one of the band’s several ensembles. For around 20 years, he played tenor sax in the big band. Both he and West played in all eight performances the band took part in abroad. They included the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, the Royal Tournament, the Bremen Tattoo (Germany), the Basel Tattoo (Switzerland) and the Queen’s 90th birthday celebration. “When our band was the centre band, I took control of tempos for the whole thing,” BurvillHolmes recalls. “So, there’s been great moments, enhanced by people, particularly colleagues, coming up to me at the end, saying how proud they felt.” West, too, was frequently in demand for his musical skills. The AFP made a request of him in 2007, after the death of Assistant

“We’ve been blessed. We’ve had good bosses, good performances, and good experiences over the years.”

Commissioner Audrey Fagan. It needed a bugler to play at her funeral. The AFP flew West to Canberra where, at the service, he played Requiescant. And, for the following five Police Remembrance Day ceremonies at the National Police Memorial in Canberra, he also played Requiescant.

est considers that, when he and Burvill-Holmes each got to serve his 30-plus years, the band was in its heyday. “We’ve been blessed,” he says. “We’ve had good bosses, good performances, and good experiences over the years.” And both 60-year-olds feel equally fortunate to have belonged to the Police Association. “It’s just that feeling that you’re attached to a huge group that’s willing to go in to bat for you,” Burvill-Holmes says. “It’s a very worthwhile (organization) and it never occurred to me not to be in it.” In retirement, West and Burvill-Holmes – fathers of four and three respectively – intend to travel. Neither, however, has any intention to give up his music. West, who is getting married in October, will “still play trumpet somewhere” and might yet join the Tea Tree Gully Redbacks concert and marching band. Says Burvill-Holmes: “Just practising is something I like to do. I just feel better about the day if I’ve spent an hour playing a saxophone, a flute or a piano. I’m not going to stop playing until I take my last breath.” PJ

February 2022

Steve Whetton Assistant Secretary Police Association

I INDUSTRIAL

Debacle: 1,912 police employees underpaid S

outh Australia Police conducted a leave audit which covered the period from February 2017 to March 2019. This audit identified all leave records on employees’ time sheets (Workforce Central) but not in the CHRIS21 payroll system. In October 2021, SAPOL indicated that 616 police employees (562 active, 54 separated) had been overpaid salary and/or allowances, and a total of 1,912 police employees (1,606 active, 306 separated) had been underpaid salary, allowances and/or superannuation. The process in these matters is that Shared Services SA contacts the members concerned, details the overpayment, and informs members that, from the date of the notice, they have 10 business days to discuss any concerns. When the overpayment relates to a previous financial year, Shared Services SA provides the Australian

A S S O CI A

I CE

T H AU S T R

Members continually report their frustration to the Police Association in respect of their vain attempts to decipher their pay, overtime, and shifts worked, and to find their leave balances.

Police Journal

hours worked. It provides a record of members’ “programmed hours off” and “time-off-in-lieu-of-overtime” accruals. Members receive their paysheets through the HR21 system. HR21 details recreation leave, long-service leave, police-service leave, sick-leave accruals, and allowances. Members continually report their frustration to the Police Association in respect of their vain attempts to decipher their pay, overtime, and shifts worked, and to find their leave balances. This is exasperating in the COVID-19 environment, in which continual shift, allowance, and location changes are a fact of life. Members continue to question the accuracy of overpayments only to receive advice of calculation errors and significant reductions in payments. In one recent example, the amount of $1,112.71 was reduced to $268.

Got something to say? Got a comment about a story you’ve read? Do you have strong views on a police issue? Is there someone you want to acknowledge? Know of an upcoming social or sports event? Whatever the subject, put it in a letter to the editor.

Taxation Office with an amendment to the relevant payment summary. Members can then submit amendment requests with the ATO. This system failure has angered serving members, as well as those who have separated from SAPOL since 2017. While their timecards were correct at the time of submission, a malfunctioning CHRIS21 brought about the overpayments. Clearly, errors of this type are beyond members’ control. CHRIS21 is an administrative function that assigns respective positions, rank, rosters, allowances and higher duties. It requires timely action to ensure Workforce Central (WFC) is populated. Also required is the allocation of a manager for HR21 authorizations such as leave approval. WFC is the fortnightly time sheet through which members and their managers approve daily activities and

Regular mail Police Journal, PO Box 6032, Halifax St, Adelaide SA 5000 Email editor@pasa.asn.au Fax (08) 8212 2002 Internal dispatch Police Journal 168

The Treasurer’s Instruction No.5 for Debt Recovery and Write Offs obliges chief executives and other agency heads to seek recovery of debts owed to the Crown. This includes debts created by the overpayment of wages. The objectives listed in the instruction are to: • Require the chief executive of each public authority to ensure that the authority establishes and implements policies for the management of debt recovery that aim to recover all amounts owing to the authority. • Prescribe the circumstances under which a debt may be written off or waived by a public authority. When an overpayment occurs, the agency must – by order of The Office of the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment (Determination and Guideline 6: Recovery of overpayments) – notify the employee, or former employee, of the: • Detail of the overpayment, including the reason and quantum. • Obligation on the agency to recover the overpayment and, on the face of it, an obligation on the employee to repay. • Proposed basis for an agreed repayment arrangement. Agreement can be reached for either a lump-sum repayment or repayment

A S S O CI A

I CE

T H AU S T R

by fortnightly deductions from after-tax salary or, in the case of a former employee, a fortnightly transfer from his or her financial institution. An overpayment of $50 or less to an employee attracts an automatic deduction of the amount of the overpayment from one’s nett fortnightly salary otherwise payable to the employee, under the Public Sector Act (section 70). In cases in which an agreement with an employee – for the repayment of an overpayment debt – fails to eventuate, agencies must act under the Public Sector Act (section 70) and facilitate unilateral deductions from the employee’s salary: • On a fortnightly basis at the rate of at least 10 per cent of the employee’s nett fortnightly salary or other greater rate as agreed, or • In the case of large overpayments that would not be repaid within a period of a maximum of five years were fortnightly deductions to occur at the rate of 10 per cent of nett fortnightly salary, a percentage of nett salary necessary to repay the overpayment in full within a maximum of five years. When an employee disputes the existence of the overpayment, he or she should contact Shared Services SA for a breakdown of it.

When an employee disputes the existence of the overpayment, he or she should contact Shared Services SA for a breakdown of it.

General order business management, financial management, overpayments stipulates that: “…where the overpayment is not repaid in full within six months of acknowledgement of the debt, the outstanding balance may constitute a Loan Fringe Benefit as described in the Fringe Benefit Taxation Assessment Act 1986 (Cwlth). SAPOL may charge interest on outstanding overpayments and a loan fringe benefit arises when a loan is provided to an employee on which a low rate of interest (less than the statutory rate of interest) or no interest has been charged during the fringe benefits tax (FBT) year.” When financial hardship exists – owing to the requirement to repay the debts at a minimum of 10 per cent of fortnight salary – SAPOL can agree to the repayment at a lesser rate over a longer period.

Change of Address The Police Association of South Australia needs your change-of-address details. If you have moved, in either the recent or distant past, please let the association know your new address. Its office does not receive notification of changed addresses by any other means.

The association will need your new address, full name, ID number, telephone numbers (home, work and/or mobile). Members can e-mail these details to the association on pasa@pasa.asn.au or send them by letter through dispatch (168).

February 2022

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Dr Rod Pearce

HEALTH

Bursitis? Can I still play sport? L

ike most medical things, the word bursitis implies that the bursa is inflamed, infected or swollen. A bursa is a closed, fluid-filled sac that works as a cushion and gliding surface to reduce friction between tissues of the body. So many moving parts of the body are separated by tissue designed to help movement, reduce friction and lessen the wear and tear on the moving part. We see versions of that in machines with their bearings and lubrication with grease or oil. In humans, we have joints and a viscous, slippery, lubricating fluid (called synovial fluid). Often compared to an egg white in appearance and texture, it allows ligaments, joints and muscles to slide over each other without hurting or rubbing so much that they cause pain or inflammation. When something goes wrong, we feel pain or hear clicking or crunching. If that is happening in ligaments and muscles, it causes inflammation, tendonitis or muscle strain but, when it happens between the muscles, tendons or bones, it causes bursitis. The more complex the machinery, and the more it is used, the more likely there is to be wear and tear. Same with the human body. The major bursae are located next to the tendons near the large joints, such as the shoulders, elbows, hips and knees. The shoulder joint can rotate in multiple directions with complex muscle and tendon attachments crossing over each other, twisting, and putting pressure across each other and the joint. The most common movement to cause problems with the shoulder is the jumping jack (star jump) exercise.

Surgery is rarely needed to treat bursitis. Injections are usually with antiinflammatory medication (steroids) and often done under ultrasound guidance, identifying the bursitis.

Four muscles and their tendons pull through a small gap between the bony process on the shoulder blade which joins the collarbone (clavicle) and the shoulder joint, rotating the arm (humerus) bone. When strained, the tendons become swollen and rub against bone (acromion) and the lubricated cushion can’t take the strain and becomes inflamed. This sub acromial bursa is the common problem causing pain when rotating the shoulder. Depending on the type of shoulder bursitis, treatment might include activity modification, immobilization with a splint, icing, injections, aspiration of the bursa (removing fluid with a syringe) and anti-inflammatory pain medication. Surgery is rarely needed to treat bursitis. Injections are usually with antiinflammatory medication (steroids) and often done under ultrasound guidance, identifying the bursitis. The elbow contains a large, curved, pointy bone at the back called the olecranon, which is covered by the olecranon bursa. Bursitis will occur here owing to: • Trauma or a hard blow. • Excessive leaning on the elbow. • Infection through puncture wounds. • Insect bites. • Conditions such as gout and rheumatoid arthritis. People highly prone to this condition work in occupations such as plumbing or are air conditioning technicians. Their work involves a lot of crawling on the elbows. A similar knee bursitis (prepatellar bursitis) used to be known as “housemaid’s knee” because cleaning floors on one’s knees irritated the bursa and caused swelling and pain.

Some hip pain can be from a bursa on the outside of the leg bone (femur) which can become sore if you sleep on your side on a hard surface. Trochanteric bursitis (bursa over the greater trochanter of the femur) can also result from: • Falling onto the hip. • Bumping the hip into an object. • Play or work activities – such as running upstairs, climbing, or standing for long periods – which cause overuse or injury to the joint areas. This will present as a pain in the hip region but has nothing at all to do with the hip, but rather the ligament running over the femur, with the bursa swelling and causing pain. What usually fixes this is altered activity and understanding what is aggravating the pain. But, again, the best fix can be injections directly into the bursa.

Continued page 40 February 2022

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Police Journal

PRICING $47,900 (LS-M 2WD) to $65,900 (LS-T 4x4) plus ORC. 4X4 SYSTEM Part-time with high- and low-range transfer case. Rear diff lock, hill-descent control, rough-road mode, 800mm wading depth. SAFETY Eight airbags, driver-attention system, autonomous emergency braking with turn assist, blind-spot monitoring, lane-departure and lane-keep assist, rear cross-traffic alert, traffic-sign recognition and adaptive cruise control. FUEL 80-litre tank, diesel, between 7.8 (2WD) and 8.3 (4x4) litres per 100km. WEIGHTS Payload 615 – 665kg, GVM 2,700 – 2,800kg, GCM 5,900kg, braked towing up to 3,500kg. SERVICE/WARRANTY Six-year 150,000km warranty, sevenyear roadside assistance and sevenyear (every 12 months or 15,000km) fixed-price servicing, total cost $3,373.

Kia Sorento PHEV DESIGN AND FUNCTION Hot on the heels of its Niro EV range, Kia has released Sorento GT-Line AWD Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV). It isn’t cheap ($81,990 driveaway) but this new rangetopping Sorento might make perfect sense for the daily commute. Capable of being charged from a standard 10-amp home power point in around six hours (or three-and-a-half hours with optional wallmount charger) it can travel around 57km (depending on conditions) without dipping into its 67-litre fuel tank.

DESIGN AND FUNCTION

Range anxiety no issue

Isuzu offers its revamped MU-X SUV in three trim levels (LS-M, LS-U and LS-T) with two- or fourwheel drive. Its lighter, stronger body features a new grille with LED headlights, restyled side glass and nicer-looking rear end. It sits on a re-engineered ladder chassis with additional cross members. Upgraded front and rear suspension is tuned for Australian roads and offers improved towing and increased payload. Isuzu claims the greater use of high-strength steel improves rigidity and safety, and all models enjoy a five-star ANCAP rating. The only engine available is a 3.0-litre turbo diesel hooked to a six-speed automatic transmission with manual mode.

MU-X has a roomy, family-size interior with seven reclinable seats which, across three rows, feature air conditioning vents. The comfortable second-row splitfold seats quickly tumble forward to provide easy access to the third row which can accommodate adults at a pinch. Generous cargo space varies between 311 litres (all seats in use) and 2,138 litres (rows two and three folded). Storage abounds with no less than 12 cupholders, two glove boxes, big bottle holders and map pockets. All models feature push-button start, rear camera with grid lines, front and rear USB ports and rear parking sensors. Entry LS-M scores a seven-inch central touchscreen with DAB radio, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. LS-U and LS-T pick up front parking sensors, a nine-inch touchscreen with sat nav, a powered tailgate and unique alloy wheels.

And those with a solar/home-battery setup might even recharge overnight for free. So, a weekend drive to the country or even Melbourne? After the first 50odd kilometres it will go as far as the driver wants it to just by adding petrol. And the range anxiety that pure EV drivers suffer will never be an issue. Kia claims combined fuel efficiency of 1.6-litres per 100km but that figure will rise after the first 100km. Although it costs $15,000 more than a similarly equipped Sorento GT-Line diesel AWD, it’s only $4,000 more than Toyota’s Kluger Grande (non-PHEV) Hybrid and far cheaper than many Euro hybrid SUVs. Inside, this Sorrento hybrid is luxurious. The seating for seven – in three comfortable rows – is covered in quilted Nappa leather. The standard-

Effortless performer

Isuzu MU-X

features list is enormous, cargo space is flexible and generous, and there’s a full-size spare.

DRIVING Three user-configurable displays offer a mountain of useful information, including energy use and battery condition. Gauges are replaced with a 12.3-inch digital display – there’s a 10.25-inch central touchscreen and a projected head-up display. Both front seats are heated and ventilated. The driver’s seat has 14-way power adjustment including thigh support. Visibility is excellent, and all the switchgear is well-placed and easy to use. The 1.6-litre turbocharged fourcylinder petrol engine is coupled to

DRIVING Drivers score a decent driving position with a height-adjustable seat and steering wheel reach and rake adjustments. The console is left uncluttered thanks to an electric park brake and, in 4x4 models, a rotary switch controls 4x4 functions. Along with good visibility, the gauge layout is neat and features digital speed readout and trip computer information. Fitted to every MU-X model, the comprehensive Isuzu Intelligent Driver-Assistance System aids drivers and significantly improves safety. Isuzu’s recently upgraded 3.0-litre diesel offers 140kW of power and 450Nm of torque with much of the torque available just above idle. The engine, generally smooth and quiet, provides effortless performance. The six-speed auto does its job with little fuss. This big family SUV offers excellent on-road and rough-road performance. It has more than enough grunt for any situation including serious towing.

an electric motor producing combined outputs of 195kW and 350Nm. A conventional six-speed auto delivers power to all four wheels as required. Drivers can select between auto, hybrid and electric modes as the software seamlessly adjusts powersharing to suit conditions. In electric mode, the car delivers sufficient power and is superbly smooth and quiet. The petrol engine can assist for short bursts under harsh acceleration or on steep hills. Once the battery is sufficiently depleted, the engine will run to help charge and power the car as required. Plant the foot hard and Sorento PHEV delivers quick acceleration. Ride and handling are spot on for this type of vehicle.

February 2022

NO PACKAGE FEE Saving you $420

Our variable home loan rate is so low – you’d struggle to get under it! Call 1300 131 844, email us at platinum@policecu.com.au, head online to policecu.com.au/platinum or visit a branch. Police Credit Union Ltd (PCU) ABN 30 087 651 205 AFSL/Australian Credit Licence 238991. Terms, conditions, fees, charges and lending criteria apply. Full details upon request. Interest rates current as at 21/02/2022 and subject to change. Maximum Loan to Valuation Ratio is 80%. Owner Occupied and New lending only with a minimum amount of $200,000. Excludes Business Banking &/or Commercial loans and loans to a Trust or Self Managed Super Fund. Comparison rate is based on a secured $150,000 loan over 25 years. WARNING: This comparison rate is true only for the examples given and may not include all fees and charges. Different terms, fees and other loan amount might result in different comparison rate. PCU reserves the right to withdraw or amend product features at any time. Please consider if the product is right for you. *No further discounts apply.

Paul Modra Executive Manager Member Value and Distribution Police Credit Union

B BANKING

To renovate in 2022 A

ustralians are renovating like never before, thanks to the impact of the global pandemic and increased discretionary spends. According to Housing Industry Association data, Australians spent more than $37.5 billion on home renovations in 2020. This trend has continued into 2021, with more than $1 billion a month spent on home renovations according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics – and this trend shows no sign of slowing down. So, is renovation a better option than relocating?

Research, plan and prepare Your renovation project might need approval from PlanSA, especially if it means a change to your home exterior or your property is a heritage listing. If you do require approval, carefully analyse your timeframes so you’re not accruing interest on a loan you aren’t able to use yet. Visit plan.sa.gov.au and search “before you lodge”. It has a “wizard” that asks you simple questions about your plans. The results can show you if approval is required, how to apply for approval and who to contact for more information. If you’re planning a larger-scale renovation, consider approaching a licensed builder to manage the project and enlist appropriate tradespeople. Search the licensing public register on the SA Government website (sa.gov.au) to find out if the person or company you are thinking of using is licensed. Once you’ve chosen your licensed builder or tradespeople, be sure to obtain quotes for each stage of your renovation so you can budget to suit your needs and timeframes. Quotes will often be required to secure your finance.

Budget, budget, budget Set yourself a budget. The last thing you need is an incomplete reno owing to a lack of funds. To get started, try the Budget Planner Calculator at policecu.com.au. Remember to allocate funds for any unexpected surprises. To help bring your renovating dreams to life, take advantage of a Police Credit Union Renovation Loan1 . This is a special-offer variable-rate loan for home improvement and creating dream spaces with a competitively low rate of 1.89% P.A/ 1.91% P.A. comparison rate. With no monthly or ongoing fees, and unlimited additional repayments, this loan will help make your renovation dreams a reality. Platinum members save $420 with no package fees on this loan.

Consider the environment When updating your home, think about your energy and water efficiency. Research whether your renovations could improve the energy and cost efficiency of your home. E nv ir onmentally conscious improvements can include insulation, thermal mass, window glazing, termite proofing and using paints with low to zero VOC emissions. Also take care to dispose of any debris safely. There are also small ways you can improve the energy and water efficiency of your home through renovations, such as replacing carpet with tiles or concrete to increase thermal mass and swapping your showerheads for ones with flow restrictors or aerators. Ask a professional if you’re unsure.

… try the Budget Planner Calculator at policecu.com.au. Remember to allocate funds for any unexpected surprises.

South Australia has minimum energy-efficient requirements for new homes and extensions. Energy-efficient measures all depend on the climate zone where your house is positioned. Visit sa.gov.au to find your climate zone. If you’re interested in solar energy, consider a Police Credit Union Solar Eco Loan. This market-leading variable personal loan has won awards in both the Mozo Expert Choice Awards and RateCity National Awards and can assist you with purchasing solar energy products such as solar photovoltaic (P.V.) panels, home battery systems and solar water heaters. The loan has no monthly or annual fees and $0 penalties for early repayment, along with a $0 package fee offer for all Platinum members, which will save you an additional $195.

Renovation Trends in 2022 Moving into 2022 and beyond, we’re seeing home spaces now also function as workspaces. Many people are looking to create multi-functional home spaces, that double as an office and a relaxing home environment. This includes a lot of open space and mobile furniture. Continued page 40 February 2022

B E BOOKS

The Younger Wife Sally Hepworth Pan Macmillan, $32.99

The moment she laid eyes on Heather Wisher, Tully knew this woman was going to destroy their lives. Tully and Rachel are murderous when they discover their father has a new girlfriend. The fact that Heather is half his age isn’t even the most shocking part. Stephen is still married to their mother, who is in a care facility with end-stage Alzheimer’s disease. Heather knows she has an uphill battle to win Tully and Rachel over, while carrying the burden of the secrets of her past. But, as it turns out, they are all hiding something. The announcement of Stephen and Heather’s engagement threatens to set off a family implosion, with old wounds and dark secrets finally being forced to the surface. A garage full of stolen goods. An old hot-water bottle, stuffed with cash. A blood-soaked wedding. And that’s only the beginning.

Win a book or in-season movie pass! For your chance to win one of the books or an in-season pass to one of these films (courtesy of Wallis Cinemas) featured in this issue, send your name, location, phone number and despatch code, along with the book and/or film of your choice to giveaways@pj.asn.au

Police Journal

Dead Horse Gap

Lee Christine Allen & Unwin, $29.99

After a light plane crashes at night in the Snowy Mountains, Sydney Homicide detective sergeant Pierce Ryder and detective constable Mitchell Flowers are sent to investigate possible foul play. As Ryder and Flowers look into the crash, they expose a generations-old feud between two local families. Could the bitterness that has been carried through the years have anything to do with the death of the pilot? Meanwhile, Detective Constable Nerida Sterling is already deep undercover in the Snowies. Her assignment is to infiltrate a drug ring operating in the mountains and, ultimately, to hunt down a murderer. Her cover becomes more and more tenuous, but what lengths will Sterling go to in order to get the information she needs?

The Heron’s Cry

Ann Cleeves Pan Macmillan, $32.99

North Devon is enjoying a rare hot summer with tourists flocking to its coastline. Detective Matthew Venn is called out to a rural crime scene at the home of a group of artists. What he finds is an elaborately staged murder – Dr Nigel Yeo has been fatally stabbed. His daughter, Eve, is a glass blower, and the murder weapon is a shard of one of her broken vases. Dr Yeo seems an unlikely murder victim. He’s a good man, a public servant, loved by his daughter. Matthew is unnerved, though, to find that Eve is a close friend of Jonathan, his husband. Then another body is found – killed in a similar way – and Matthew finds himself treading carefully through the lies that fester at the heart of his community in a case that is dangerously close to home.

The Colonial’s Son

Peter Watt Pan Macmillan, $32.99

As the son of “the Colonial”, legendary Queen’s Captain Ian Steele, Josiah Steele has big shoes to fill. Although his home in the colony of New South Wales is a world away, he dreams of one day travelling to England so he can study to be a commissioned officer in the Scottish Regiment. After cutting his teeth in business on the rough and ready goldfields of Far North Queensland’s Palmer River, he finally realizes his dream and travels to England, where he is accepted into the Sandhurst military academy. While in London he makes surprising new acquaintances – and runs into a few old ones he’d rather have left behind. From the Australian bush to the glittering palaces of London, from the arid lands of Afghanistan to the newly established Germany dominated by Prussian ideas of militarism, Josiah Steele must now forge his own path.

February 2022

B E

C E

BOOKS

CINEMA

The Cane

Mary Rose Cuskelly Allen & Unwin, $24.99

Quala, a North Queensland sugar town, the 1970s. Barbara McClymont walks the cane fields searching for Janet, her 16-year-old daughter, who has been missing for weeks. The police have no leads. The people of Quala are divided by dread and distrust. But the sugar crush is under way and the cane must be burned. Meanwhile, children dream of a malevolent presence, a schoolteacher yearns to escape, and history keeps returning to remind Quala that the past is always present. As the smoke rises and tensions come to a head, the dark heart of Quala will be revealed and affect the lives of all those who dwell beyond the cane.

Downton Abbey: A New Era March 17

Mercy

A new era begins. The entire Downton cast has returned for the second film along with some new additions.

The hunt is finally over. FBI agent Atlee Pine is at the end of her long journey to discover what happened to her twin sister, Mercy, who was abducted when the girls were just six years old.

The initial film in 2019 followed a royal visit to the Crawley family and Downton staff from the King and Queen of England and ended with a ball fitting for the royal family.

David Baldacci Pan Macmillan, $32.99

The incident destroyed her family and left Atlee physically and mentally scarred. She knew her sister and parents were out there somewhere. And she had to find them. Dead or alive. Atlee and her assistant, Carol Blum, discover the truth. But the truth hurts. And hurt makes you tough. So how tough do you have to be to forgive? As they uncover a shocking trail of lies, greed, fear and revenge, they must face one final challenge. A challenge more deadly and dangerous than they could ever have imagined.

Police Journal

Cast: Maggie Smith (Violet Crawley), Hugh Bonneville (Robert Crawley), Tuppence Middleton (Lucy Smith), Michelle Dockery (Lady Mary), Joanne Froggatt (Anna Bates).

The Batman March 3

The Riddler plays a dangerous game of cat and mouse with Batman and Commissioner Gordon in Gotham City. And Batman, Gotham City’s vigilante detective and other times reclusive billionaire Bruce Wayne, uncovers corruption in the city that connects to his own family. Cast: Robert Pattinson (Batman/Bruce Wayne), Zoë Kravitz (Selina Kyle), Paul Dano (Edward Nashton), Colin Farrell (Oswald Cobblepot).

Sonic The Hedgehog 2 March 31

After settling in Green Hills, Sonic is eager to prove that he has what it takes to be a true hero.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

His test comes when Dr Robotnik returns with a new partner, Knuckles, in search of a mystical emerald that has the power to destroy civilizations.

April 7

Sonic teams up with his own sidekick, Tails, and together they embark on a globetrotting journey to find the emerald before it falls into the wrong hands.

Unable to stop him alone, he entrusts magizoologist Newt Scamander to lead an intrepid team of wizards, witches and one brave muggle baker on a dangerous mission, where they encounter old and new beasts and clash with Grindelwald’s growing legion of followers.

Cast: James Marsden (Tom), Jim Carrey (Dr Ivo Robotnik), Idris Elba (Knuckles, voice), Ben Schwartz (Sonic, voice).

But with the stakes so high, how long can Dumbledore remain on the sidelines?

Professor Albus Dumbledore knows the powerful dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald is moving to seize control of the wizarding world.

Cast: Eddie Redmayne (Newt Scamander), Jude Law (Albus Dumbledore), Mads Mikkelsen (Gellert Grindelwald), Dan Fogler (Jacob Kowalski), Alison Sudol (Queenie Goldstein).

February 2022

HEALTH

BANKING

From page 31

From page 35

Other places around the body can become inflamed. Any location where there is a ligament running over a bone, or two ligaments crossing over each other, there is likely a small bursa helping lubricate the movements but, with the possibility of repeated irritation, can become swollen and need specific treatment. Common reasons for bursae to become inflamed are repetitive movements in sport. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disorder that attacks synovial tissue which is the lining of the bursa, so it can cause inflammation anywhere in the body where there is a bursa, or a joint. Some less common sites cause particular diagnostic and treatment dilemmas. If the Achilles tendon area is painful, a tear in the muscle or tendon could indicate the need for surgery to stop a complete separation from the heel. If the bursa between the Achilles tendon and the heel bone is inflamed, a steroid injection is the cure, but a steroid injection in the tendon will increase the risk of rupture. Pain in the ball of the foot could be a neuroma or bursitis. Neurological symptoms are less common with bursitis but can also occur as the enlarged bursa can push on the common plantar nerve resulting in burning, tingling, numbness and pain in the region of the forefoot. Oral anti-inflammatory medication remains the mainstay of treating inflamed joints and bursa if altered movements or simple analgesia doesn’t work. Specific injections provide good, targeted options. Avoiding activity which causes the problem is sometimes the only option which, unfortunately, interrupts sport, recreational activity and sometimes work.

Being environmentally conscious is more than just a trend, with more environmentally friendly products readily available, including rugs made from recycled plastics. With many Australians spending more time at home in the kitchen, we are seeing larger, open-plan kitchens equipped with more energy efficient appliances. We’re also embracing technology, using phone apps to control appliances, heating, cooling and lighting in our homes.

Police Journal

Consider Police Credit Union for your renovation needs As you’re a Platinum member, Police Credit Union can help you get the most out of its special offer Renovation Loan, Solar Eco Loan and Platinum package, including personal one-on-one banking with our designated relationship managers across the state. Glenn Lewis and Ryan Mountford have years of experience and can visit you to discuss how you can make the most of our products and competitive rates to bring your plans to life. Get in touch with them today at platinum@policecu.com.au. You can also call Glenn on 0421 243 741 or Ryan on 0437 286 804.

Police Credit Union Ltd (PCU) ABN 30 087 651 205 AFSL/Australian Credit Licence 238991. Terms, conditions, fees, charges, lending and membership criteria apply. Full details upon request. All information correct as at 01/02/2022 and subject to change. PCU reserves the right to withdraw offer or amend product features at any time.

1 Renovation Loan: Maximum Loan to Valuation Ratio is 80%. New lending only with a minimum of $25,000. Owner Occupied only. Special offer ends 30/04/2022. No further discounts apply. Comparison rate is based on a secured $150,000 loan over 25 years. WARNING: This comparison rate is true only for the examples given and may not include all fees and charges. Different terms, fees or other loan amounts might result in a different comparison rate. Excludes Business Banking &/or Commercial Loans and loans to a Trust or SelfManaged Super Fund. The information provided herein does not take into account your personal needs, objective and financial circumstances. Please consider your circumstances before deciding if the product is right for you. Information provided in this article is designed to be a guide only and was believed to be correct at time of publication and derived from various media sources. In some cases, information has been provided to us by third parties and while that information is believed to be accurate and reliable, its accuracy is not guaranteed in any way. Any opinions expressed constitute our views at the time of issue and are subject to change. Neither PCU, nor its employees or directors give any warranty of accuracy or accept responsibility for any loss or liability incurred by you in respect of any error, omission or misrepresentation in this article.

Don’t miss out on A retirement function due to COVID-19

Let us host your farewell at the POLICE CLUB Register your interest now and we’ll do all the rest including: • Hosting your function at the Police Club (in accordance with COVID-19 restrictions) • Promoting your retirement event to members / your guests

• Managing the RSVP’s & guest payments • Gift bottle of red wine for the Guest of Honour • Packages at $10 per head for cocktail food & Friday night happy hours drinks from the bar

CONTACT PASA FOR MORE INFORMATION

(08) 8212 3055 or ss@pasa.asn.au

The Last Shift

For the full version of The Last Shift, go to PASAweb at www.pasa.asn.au

(Annemieke) Lyndy Baker Mick Butler Andy Dummin Sonni Hamden Grant O’Dea Michael Prescott Total years’ service: 223

Senior Sergeant 1C (Annemieke) Lyndy Baker STAR negotiator 33 years’ service Last Day: 31.12.21

Comments… “It has been a long and interesting ride with many hard times but there has always been an ‘up’ now and then, just something that would make what one was doing worthwhile. “I finish just a little earlier than planned for medical reasons and while it has been very hard at times, I thank those who kept in touch, checked on me and gave support these last few months. “As a negotiator, it has been interesting, fun at times, hard, unusual and so many other words, and I leave with so many memories from the negotiator group and the STAR operators in particular. Thank you, all. “Thank you also to everyone who has been there along my journey and made an impression on me. I wish everyone the best for the future in policing which changes so rapidly. “Take care and remember to always look after each other.”

Senior Sergeant 1C Andy Dummin

Police Academy 43 years’ service Last Day: 10.11.21 Comments… “I sincerely thank the Police Association’s dedicated committee and delegates for their continuous support and work in securing better conditions and wages for all members. “I have been very fortunate to have worked a variety of positions with both sworn and non-sworn members. Region B, Port Pirie, Yorketown, Nuriootpa and Gawler were all areas that provided fond memories of working with some incredible police officers and support staff. “A special mention needs to go to all the wives of members who worked in small stations in the ‘good old days’. They were a huge support in so many

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Police Journal

ways and were a free resource to SAPOL but mostly not thanked or recognized. “There were a few bosses, however, who acknowledged these wives and to them I am grateful. “There were also several operational incidents that will never leave me. They certainly tested my resilience and resolve. “Working in the Call Centre in its early days gave me a chance to work with a large number of dedicated nonsworn members who were often faced with very serious challenges, and who were sometimes undervalued in such a difficult and important function. I will never forget their efforts. “Completing my career at the academy in charge of a team of hardworking like-minded trainers made my time there enjoyable and rewarding. I have been blessed throughout my career and I wouldn’t change anything, given a second chance.”

Sergeant Mick Butler

Western District Response Teams 49 years’ service Last Day: 22.01.22 Comments… “Thank you to the association for the excellent service to your membership, and in achieving all the benefits we now enjoy. All the very best for the future.

“Thank you to SAPOL for the opportunity and the honour and privilege to serve with so many outstanding people within the organization. “To all members, both plain-clothed and uniformed, who remain on the front line in harm’s way: please keep safe. You are my heroes and always will be.”

Senior Constable 1C Michael Prescott

Norwood 36 years’ service Last Day: 15.12.21 Comments… “Thanks to the members of Course 15 (1985), not many of the course now left in the job. “I have worked with many great people over the years, from Christies Beach, Darlington/Sturt, Mt Barker and now Eastern District, as well as various squads. “It is now time to hit the fairways even more often than I already do and also spend more time on my hobby farm with my wife and animals. “I would encourage everyone to join one of SAPOL’s great sporting clubs. I enjoyed many years with the basketball club and now the golf club. It has given me some fantastic trips and the chance to meet police from all over the country and the world.” “Good luck to everyone.”

Brevet Sergeant Sonni Hamden

Sexual Crime Investigation 30 years’ service Last Day: 25.10.21 Comments… I thank the Police Association for all of the help and support that I have received over the past 30 years. Good luck with the future.”

Senior Constable 1C Grant O’Dea

Operational Safety Training Team 32 years’ service Last Day: 15.01.22 Comments… “Thank you to the Police Association for its service to members over the years. “I have great memories of my early years in the Elizabeth police area, working in various locations. “I am leaving my last and best posting: Firearms/IMOST trainer. “Good luck to the remaining members of Course 25 (1988-89). “To all members: stay safe.”

done differently. CEO Brett Schatto, former SA police officer and Police Association member (11 years).

February 2022

O ON SCENE

Graduates’ Dinner: Course 50/2021 Fenwick Function Centre December 17, 2021

1. Rachel Molero and Paris Hudson 2. Erin Wickstein and Jem Walsh (left) 3. Allan and Holly Rohrlach 4. Shannon Buckley 5. Caitlin Berry and Jordan Doherty 6. Molly Taylor and Jem Walsh 7. Rebecca Thompson and Jake Heinze 8. Emily Jobson and Brock Harding 9. Rebecca Thompson, Viv Pitman, Rhiley Ritchie and Ashton McGinlay 10. Obi Al-Bajjari and Chris Sassine 11. Nick Seppelt and Hayley Bitter

Graduation dinners are sponsored by Health, Wealthy and Wise, a joint initiative of

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Police Journal

February 2022

Jobs you never forget My patrol partner and I responded to a reported armed hold-up on a Hindley St shop in 2000. When we got there, people appeared to be taking cover behind parked cars. I approached the shop, heard yelling, looked inside and saw one man holding a handgun toward the shopkeeper’s head and another one banging a spatula on the counter. I drew my firearm and was about to yell: “Police!” when a friend I hadn’t seen in years approached me, screaming: “Don’t shoot!” I pushed him back but he again yelled: “Don’t shoot! It’s a rehearsal.” The armed male was actor Ben Mendelsohn and the one with the spatula was Joel Edgerton. They were rehearsing for a movie which was due to commence filming in Adelaide the following week.

When I was attached to Major Crash I attended and investigated a fatal collision between a car and a seven-yearold boy within a 100km/h section of road. Without looking, the boy had run from the driveway of the family property onto the road and into the path of the car. He was deceased before his body hit the ground. The SES had erected a marquee. Seated under it, in a camp chair, was the mother of the boy, holding him across her lap. She pleaded with me for more time with him before he was taken away. When the time came, I removed him from her arms and she assisted me to put him in a body bag. She insisted that she put his human-remains tag on him, brushed his blood-soaked hair, and kissed him on the cheek.

Police Journal

SENIOR CONSTABLE 1C MARK KINGSLAND (State Traffic Enforcement)

In my time with Major Crash, I responded to a driveway fatality in which a father had driven a panel van over his 22-month-old daughter. Unknown to him was that she had followed him out to the garage and stood at the rear of the van as he reversed. When he got out of the car to close the garage door he saw her lifeless body, picked her up, and called 000. At the time, my youngest daughter was of a similar age. I couldn’t help but look at this child and think I was dealing with my own daughter. I couldn’t conceive of how her parents would ever cope with her death. Police at the scene, including me, had trouble holding back the tears. I placed the girl’s small body into an adult-size body bag and folded it over multiple times and the forensic conveyor took her away.

“Police at the scene, including me, had trouble holding back the tears.”

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Taking the hitsley in Hind Street dynamic, “It can be very ly quickly, and change real e dangerous. become quit w what kno ’t don You carrying on people are e crowds.” them in larg

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Police www.pasa.asn.au

Journal

PLATINUM BENEFIT

Starting out, moving up or just treating yourself? Wherever you’re at, our Low Rate Car Loan could help. Call 1300 131 844, email us at platinum@policecu.com.au, head online to policecu.com.au/platinum or visit a branch. Police Credit Union Ltd ABN 30 087 651 205 AFSL/Australian Credit Licence 238991. Terms, conditions, fees, charges and lending criteria apply. Full details upon request. Interest rate is current as at 01/12/2021, subject to change. Comparison rate is based on a secured $30,000 loan over 5 years. WARNING: This comparison rate is true only for the examples given and may not include all fees and charges. Different terms, fees or other loan amounts might result in a different comparison rate. Minimum loan amount is $20,000. New lending only. The information provided herein does not take into account your personal needs, objectives and financial circumstances. Please consider your circumstances before deciding if the product is right for you. This offer may be withdrawn or amended by Police Credit Union Ltd at any time. *Special offer ends 01/12/2022. No further discounts apply. LRCL 20/11/2021

Police Journal February 2022

Articles inside

President

The Last Shift

Banking

Health