Family matters

Editorial and photography: Jesse Wray-McCann

With Sergeant Wayne McDonald’s long policing career being the inspiration for his sons Dan and Ben to join Victoria Police, it was fitting that he should work his final shift with them.

Having started in 1973 as a 16-year-old police cadet, Wayne’s retirement in March brought a close to a career that saw him respected by all he came into contact with.

He started out with uniform stints in Melbourne’s CBD and Geelong, before becoming a detective based in the city and then Brunswick.

Wayne then was promoted to sergeant and worked the rest of his career in uniform at St Kilda Road, Oakleigh, Knox and finally Rowville.

Wayne’s career was one marked by hard work, humility, reliability and treating people with respect.

“If you treat others how you want to be treated yourself, you can’t go too far wrong,” Wayne said.

“In this job you can see the worst side of humanity, but at the same time, you still need to recognise that they are still people.

“I’ve always tried to maintain that philosophy throughout my career.”

His approach caught the eye of a fellow officer in the 1980s, who would go on to become his wife Helen.

“We were very much a policing family, even before the boys joined,” Wayne said.

“Other than to take them to open days and put them in the back of divvy vans, I didn’t try to push Dan and Ben to this career.”

Images: Today's a family day Ben (left) and Dan (right) congratulate their father Wayne on a long and distinguished career.

But seeing his dad in the uniform meant that Dan, now a detective senior constable at the Moorabbin Family Violence Investigation Unit, wanted to follow his father’s footsteps from a young age.

For Ben, a senior constable at Collingwood Police Station, the desire to join Victoria Police came later in life.

“When I was at school, everyone knew my parents were police, so they would always ask me when I was going to join,” he said.

“I got sick of the question, and I was pretty adamant that it was a ‘no’.”

But after several years working in sports administration, Ben made the move to Victoria Police and hasn’t looked back.

The McDonalds kit up before heading out on Wayne’s final shift.

Wayne's daughter Chloe has also shown an interest in joining Victoria Police, having even done a work experience stint with her dad at Rowville Police Station.

She is currently working in the insurance industry.

And Wayne’s other son Luke believes there should be at least one member of the McDonald family not in Victoria Police.

“He has told us, ‘We’ve got enough police in this family already’, so he works in the health sector,” Wayne said.

The family’s two dogs, King Charles Cavaliers, also seem to fancy themselves as police sniffer dogs.

“They sniff around at dinner time quite a bit,” Wayne said.

Wayne and Dan check police database details while out on patrol.

With Dan and Ben jumping into the divisional van at Rowville to work with Wayne on his final shift, it proved to be a passing of the policing baton and an opportunity to reflect on Wayne’s career.

“I really like his hard-working nature, the way he deals with people and he’s pretty calm, he doesn’t get flustered too often,” Ben said.

“I’m very proud of his career.”“Dad’s definitely a superstar,” Dan said.

“He’s a great asset to the police, and I want to glean as much as I can from him and apply it to my career.

“He’s paved the way for us to be able to have a good crack at this career.

“If we can be as half as good as he is, we’ll be rapt.”

Wayne said it was “pretty overwhelming” to hear his two sons speak with such admiration.

“Whatever the boys want to do, I’ll be proud of them, but I’m particularly proud in a sense that they have followed in my footsteps,” Wayne said.