Changing lanes

Editorial: Danielle Ford

Photography: Grant Condon

In the first month of 2020, 17 people were seriously injured on roads in the Mitchell Police Service Area (PSA).

As members of Seymour Highway Patrol Unit, one of the two highway patrol teams in the PSA, Leading Senior Constable Libby Garbutt and First Constable Monica Lock take this statistic seriously.

Having worked across different highway patrol units for several years, Ldg Sen Const Garbutt said she’s seen nearly every road offence imaginable.

“Every day I continue to pull people overwho have consciously chosen to speed, not wear their seatbelt or drive under the influence of drugs and alcohol,” Ldg Sen Const Garbutt said.

“It’s not just the incidents that result in horrific crashes that I consider terrifying; any action that’s reckless and has the potential to cause a serious accident is terrifying.”

Const Locke has been at Seymour Highway Patrol for just a few months but has been shocked by the range of offences she's already witnessed.

Const Monica Lock keep a watchful eye over the roads in the state's north as part of the Seymour Highway Patrol Unit.

“You read the statistics about the number of offences committed on the roads, but I still found it confronting just how many people engage in reckless behaviour every single day,” Const Lock said.

Changes in society have altered people’s behaviour on the roads and Ldg Sen Const Garbutt said technology advancements had led to one of the biggest challenges.

“Mobile phone use is probably the biggest change I’ve seen in my time,” she said.

“The number of people using their phones while driving is a huge issue that was nowhere near as bad 10 years ago.”

However, it’s not just the job and driver behaviour that have changed over the years, according to Ldg Sen Const Garbutt.

“When I first joined a highway patrol unit, I was one of very few women in road policing in any capacity, and that was less than 10 years ago,” she said.

“Now we have women coming up the ranks at all levels of road policing.”

Ldg Sen Const Libby Garbutt is pleased to see more females getting into road policing.

Being able to work in a unit and help mentor other females taking the road policing path is something Ldg Sen Const Garbutt really values.

“I was the only female when I first joined highway patrol, so to be here when Monica started in our unit and to help mentor her, it's fitting,” she said.

“The fact we are able to have two women out in a highway patrol car is great. Women use our roads every day, so why shouldn’t we have women out policing them every day?”

When Const Lock joined Victoria Police three years ago, her desire was always to work in road policing.

“So many people use our roads every day, often without a second thought, yet the roads are also where a lot of the biggest tragedies occur every day,” Const Lock said.

Const Lock echoed Ldg Sen Cost Garbutt’s sentiment about women in road policing, stating that a strong police force is one that represents the community it serves.

“No matter what aspect of policing it is, Victoria Police should reflect who it serves,” she said.

It’s not just in the local highway patrol units, which sit within Victoria’s four police regions, where more women are starting to take the road policing wheel.

Victoria Police’s Road Policing Command, which provides state-wide support to the regions to achieve desired road safety outcomes, has experienced a noticeable increase in the number of females in the command.

In the last year and a half, the number of females working in the command has grown by nearly two per cent.

Leading Senior Constable Lisa Bolton works in the Heavy Vehicle Unit, a specialised team within Road Policing Command tasked with reducing heavy vehicle-related road trauma.

While she said the number of females working in the field isn’t something she thinks about during her everyday work, it is something she believes is vital to the progression of the organisation.

Heavy Vehicle Unit Ldg Sen Const Lisa Bolton plays a part in ensuring the trucking industry operates as safely as possible, even right up to Victoria's borders.

“Road policing in general can be seen as ‘boys and their toys’, especially the Heavy Vehicle Unit,” Ldg Sen Const Bolton said.

“But there is so much more to the field than just cars, motorbikes and trucks. It’s quite a research and investigation heavy area that could use diverse points of view to help progress strategies and operations aimed at reducing road trauma.”

Newly-appointed Road Policing Command Assistant Commissioner Libby Murphy said Victoria Police has always had a strong Road Policing Command and the growth of women in the field is a great complement.

“Road policing is just one example of the great strides Victoria Police has been making towards it’s goal to have more women in policing,” AC Murphy said.