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THE VICTORIA POLICE MAGAZINE
WINTER 2021
Memories of Port Arthur THE POLICE WHO RESPONDED TO MODERN AUSTRALIA’S WORST MASS SHOOTING EMBARK ON A WALK TO REMEMBER PLUS OLYMPIC BASKETBALLER ON THE BEAT > NEW DOGS’ EXPLOSIVE SKILLS > WHAT 500 YEARS IN VICTORIA POLICE LOOKS LIKE AND MORE
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WINTER 2021
Cold cases revisited Victoria Police’s Homicide Squad is using a new platform to shed light on unsolved murders.
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COVER: Craig Harwood, Jim Morrison and Michael Hayes were among the Victorian and Tasmanian Special Operations Group police who responded to the Port Arthur tragedy in 1996 and arrested the offender. Now, 25 years on, they’re continuing to commemorate the event and contribute to the good that came out of that dreadful day.
Yes, drill sergeant Having spent more than three decades instructing at the Victoria Police Academy, Sergeant Jonathan Payne has led thousands of police officers to graduation.
Photography: Yuri Kouzmin Police Life is produced by the Media and Corporate Communications Department, Victoria Police, GPO Box 913, Melbourne, 3001 Online police.vic.gov.au/policelife facebook.com/victoriapolice twitter.com/victoriapolice
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Email policelife-mgr@police.vic.gov.au Managing Editor Roslyn Jaguar
Rise and shine An early morning exercise routine is helping break down barriers between police and young people.
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The science of shootings Every bullet tells a story – Victoria Police’s Ballistics Unit is dedicated to uncovering them.
Editor Grant Condon Journalists Danielle Ford Cathy Le Nadine Lyford Lane Mihaljevic Jesse Wray-McCann Emily Wan Graphic Design Fluid – fluid.com.au
FSC POSITIONAL ONLY PRINTER TO STRIP IN. 100% From wellmanaged forests
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Subscriptions (03) 8335 8564 ISSN 0032-2598L Crown Copyright in the state of Victoria. For permission to reprint any part of this magazine, contact the editor. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of Victoria Police.
REGULARS
PLUS
5 14 18 31
10 On the record
By the numbers Behind the Badge Out and About In Brief
A freezer containing DNA, a book filed away in police storage and a determined detective came together to solve a horrific sex crime almost 30 years after it took place.
A MESSAGE FROM THE CHIEF COMMISSIONER Victoria Police is in the midst of planning the service tribute to Leading Senior Constable Lynette Taylor, Senior Constable Kevin King, Constable Josh Prestney and Constable Glen Humphris, who tragically lost their lives on 22 April 2020. The members were performing routine police duties on the Eastern Freeway at Kew. The State Memorial Service, which has been on hold for some time due to coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions, will now be held on 29 September 2021. We look forward to commemorating their service. In this edition of Police Life, we have highlighted areas where Victoria Police continues to build capability, with articles featuring: I invite you to join me at a State Memorial Service on National Police Remembrance Day to pay respect and honour the sacrifice of our fallen colleagues.
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• The launch of Victoria Police’s new Cold Case Hub, which will promote high-profile unsolved homicide cases on a bi-monthly basis on the Victoria Police website.
• The introduction of Explosive Detection Dogs to the Bomb Response Unit. • How Victoria Police’s PRIME training is improving the response to mental health incidents. Also in this publication, we have reflected on Victoria Police’s inaugural deployment of specialist police to the Port Arthur tragedy and the recent efforts made by the first responders to raise money for the Alannah and Madeline Foundation. Wednesday, 28 April 2021 marked the 25th Anniversary of the Port Arthur incident where 35 people were killed and 23 wounded. It was a privilege to join my counterparts across the Emergency Services sector in Tasmania to recognise the efforts of the local and interstate first responders. Stay safe and well.
Follow Victoria Police on Twitter at @VictoriaPolice
MAKING NEWS For the latest police news visit police.vic.gov.au/news
NEW DIVVY VANS DELIVERED The first of Victoria Police’s new fleet of divisional vans have hit the streets, with a total of 280 vehicles to be rolled out for operational use across the state throughout the coming months.
Road Policing Command Acting Assistant Commissioner Deb Robertson said the vehicles had undergone rigorous performance testing to ensure they met Victoria Police’s operational and safety needs.
The new-look divisional van is based on the Ford Ranger vehicle, with the manufacturer endorsing a custom-made custody compartment — also known as a rear pod — which is fitted on the back of the van.
“Our frontline officers rely on divisional vans to provide the safest mode of transport for their duties while being durable and equipped for modern policing,” A/AC Robertson said.
The first batch of the purpose-built divisional vans hit the road at both metro and country stations in late May, replacing the current model which has been used by frontline officers since 2018. Several improvements have been made to the fit-out of the vehicles to ensure the new fleet remained as safe and practical as possible.
“We were pleased to find a manufacturer that could make major enhancements and modifications to one of their vehicles to purpose-build them for our operational use and to also meet our fleet safety policy. “We have now secured a long-term future for our iconic divisional vans and the community will already be able see the new-look vehicles on the streets.”
Additional features of the new divisional van fleet include a more refined and integrated fitment for police equipment, driver impairment monitor, constant video display in the rear-view mirror, and integrated controls in the dashboard for improved accessibility.
Image Better than ever Victoria Police’s new fleet of Ford Ranger divisional vans have hit the streets, with a total of 280 of the purpose-built vehicles to be rolled out state-wide across the coming months. Editorial: Cathy Le Photography: Jesse Wray-McCann
POLICE LIFE | WINTER 2021
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SMALL TALK VOXPOP
ODD SPOT
When was your first day on the job and what do you remember? SERGEANT JAMES LEE Marysville Police Station
My first day on the job was 11 November 1996. A bunch of us turned up to Heidelberg Headquarters and were then sent to Mill Park from there — but no one knew we were coming! A very unexpected first day for all involved. CONSTABLE HARRISON BURGESS Prahran Police Station
Wonthaggi police were as stunned as mullets to discover a very strange vessel washed up at Waratah Bay on 25 April. The barnacle-covered, unmanned boat had clearly travelled a long way before ending up at the quiet cove to the west of Wilsons Promontory. After a bit of research, it was revealed that the vessel, known as a ‘Saildrone’, is used for ocean mapping and scientific research.
Sometimes used by the CSIRO for research in Victorian waters, these vessels weigh 45 kilograms and are seven metres in length. For boat spotters out there — this model has a fixed hard sail, a motor, rudder and keel and is apparently the only one that has ever gone missing.
A California-based company launched three Saildrones from Bluff in New Zealand in 2019 on a mission to sail around Antarctica researching krill numbers using sophisticated sounding equipment (expensive fish finders). Unfortunately, contact was lost with one of the vessels while it was navigating an ice pack somewhere between Antarctica and Cape Horn in late 2019. It then drifted for 18 months before washing up on this quiet corner of the Victorian coast.
SECRET LIFE OF POLICE Technically it was my first night on the job. It was a nightshift at Malvern Police Station in May 2020. I remember being excited but nervous. It was also interesting as it was just after the first coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown, which added a different element. LEADING SENIOR CONSTABLE MARK TEPPER Transport Support Unit
I joined Victoria Police on 5 January 1979, as a Police Cadet, and have just clocked up 42 years’ service. I remember being very nervous as I walked into the Cadet Academy, along with a number of others and being greeted by our drill instructors and honestly wondering what I had got myself into. After 42 years I would gladly do it all again.
BE PART OF THE STORY Join the Conversation Police Life loves hearing what you think about the magazine, your local police and Victoria Police in general. Police Life GPO Box 913 Melbourne, 3001 Email: policelife-mgr@police.vic.gov.au
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After riding in her first Royal Melbourne Show when she was just two years old, First Constable Samantha Richardson developed a passion for horse riding — one that she now balances alongside policing in the Eastern Region. “My mother rode show horses for many years, so it was a given that I would go down the same path,” Const Richardson said. “But I eventually became involved in show jumping, which I’m still doing to this day.” Show jumping is a discipline that requires a horse and rider to jump over a series of colourful obstacles in a set order. First place is awarded to the duo with the quickest time and least amount of penalty points. “I’ve been competing most weekends since the COVID-19 restrictions lifted, which can be challenging to juggle alongside work at times,” Const Richardson said. “But I am incredibly lucky to have such an accommodating team at Morwell, who allow me to have my rest days in conjunction with competitions where possible. “The flexibility of shift work is fantastic, and I have a far better work-life balance than I did prior to joining Victoria Police.” As a young girl, Const Richardson competed at royal shows, Horse of the Year and national competitions with great success. “I was a member of the Jumping Victoria Young Rider Squad for eight years and, when I was 19, I placed first in the Ammo Young Rider Challenge and won a trip to Germany to train at Klatte farm, an elite stable, for three months,” she said. “Unfortunately, when I became an adult my opportunity to compete was slightly curtailed,
but I have been the South Australian State Amateur Champion and placed in royal, state, national and World Cup competitions.” Const Richardson is grateful for the support of her mother, Liz, who helps take care of her beloved horses, Gold Play and Furiosa, when things get tricky. “I’m lucky that my horses live at home with me and that the property is set up with stables, paddocks and an arena to train on, but it still takes approximately four hours per day to ride and do all the care that is needed to look after my horses,” she said. “They say it takes a village, and I am lucky to have a very supportive one.”
Image Jumping hurdles Const Samantha Richardson and her horse Play with Paint at the Royal Adelaide Show. Editorial: Lane Mihaljevic Photography: Supplied
VICTORIA POLICE BY THE NUMBERS:
90
per cent of homicide cases presented to Victoria Police are solved. To read about the new Homicide Squad Cold Case Hub on the Victoria Police website, go to Page 6.
55,000 is the approximate number of shifts worked by police and Protective Services Officers during Operation Tidewatch so far. The ongoing operation sees police carry out supervision, enforcement and compliance duties at quarantine and health hotels during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
6% of Victorians over the age of 65 are affected by financial elder abuse. Senior Rights Victoria and Victoria Police have partnered up to reduce this figure. To find out more, go to Page 26.
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operational tasks have been carried out by the Search and Rescue Squad during the past financial year. The tasks have ranged from searches in bushland and alpine areas, dive tasks, vehicle and high angle rescues, and confined space searches. *Figures as of April 2021
1878
is the year Constable Thomas Lonigan was murdered by Ned Kelly and his gang at Stringybark Creek. To read about the custody area that now carries the Lonigan name, go to Page 31.
7.15AM
is the time that students participating in Corio’s Blue EDGE program start their physical exercise session every Tuesday and Thursday morning. To read more about the program, go to Page 21.
1,100
is the approximate number of firearmrelated objects examined by the Victoria Police Ballistics Unit every year. To read about the work of Senior Sergeant Stephen Farrar and his colleagues, go to Page 22.
131 444
is the Police Assistance Line phone number. Call at any time to report non-urgent crimes and events.
2,729
police officers have taken part in Victoria Police’s largest ever recruitment drive since 2018. The last of that batch of recruits are currently in training at the Victoria Police Academy and will be deployed from October.
410 is the number of kilometers that Victoria Police veterans Craig Harwood and Michael Hayes travelled during the First Responder’s Walk from 16 to 27 April to mark the 25th anniversary of the Port Arthur tragedy.
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years of the Victoria Police and Emergency Services Games were celebrated from 17 to 21 March. The games provide an opportunity for employees across the police and emergency services sector to come together in the spirit of fitness, fun and healthy competition. POLICE LIFE | WINTER 2021
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A PLACE FOR
COLD CASES THEY MAY BE GONE, BUT COLD CASE HOMICIDE VICTIMS HAVE NOT BEEN FORGOTTEN. Families left behind often carry the burden of keeping their loved one’s memory alive long after the attention of the media and wider public has faded. And for them, there will be little comfort in their lives until they get an answer to the question which has plagued them for years, if not decades – “Why?” Officer in Charge of the Homicide Squad Detective Inspector Timothy Day said that for most families the questions of ‘Who?’, ‘What?’, ‘How?’, ‘Where?’ and ‘When?’ don’t matter as much; it’s the ‘Why?’ that keeps them up at night.
To try and get the answer these Victorian families deserve, Det Insp Day has launched a new Homicide Squad Cold Case Hub, hosted on the Victoria Police website, with the hope that a member of the public will provide the information needed to finally unmask a killer. One tragic case featured on the hub is the coldblooded murder of Jane Thurgood-Dove, in what police believe to be a case of mistaken identity. Ms Thurgood-Dove was gunned down in front of her three young children in the driveway of her Niddrie home in 1997.
She had returned home after picking up her children from school and preschool when a stolen, metallic blue Holden Commodore pulled up outside the front of her property and a gunman stepped out and shot her multiple times. The car was later found torched in a nearby street. Detectives have interviewed a number of persons of interest during the past two decades — two of whom have since passed away — however no-one has ever been charged with Ms Thurgood-Dove’s murder.
They want to know why their loved one was murdered. 01 6
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“This case strikes at the heart of our civilised society. It’s an absolute tragedy that shouldn’t have happened,” Det Insp Day said. “I think most people could identify with it — a mother with her children who happened to be a totally innocent party in a murder gone wrong.” The Cold Case Hub — the first police hub of its kind in Australia — features five cold cases currently under investigation with a personal appeal from the police investigator to the public for information about each murder. Each case also links directly to Crime Stoppers so any information about the crime can be reported easily and confidentially. Two new cases that Homicide Squad detectives would like the community’s help in solving will be added to the hub each month. Det Insp Day said the webpage is a “single source of truth” for the public, providing information that police need the public to know, rather than what might be featured on unreliable websites and podcasts. The hub is inspired by a cold case webpage Det Insp Day came across during his time with Canadian law enforcement as part of the Churchill Fellowship he was awarded in 2018. While travelling through Europe and North America to examine the operating models of international homicide squads to help build our national capability, Det Insp Day became interested in Toronto Police Service’s publicly accessible cold case page on its website.
“And, importantly, this reminds the families of the victims that Victoria Police doesn’t stop. We haven’t forgotten about their loved ones and we will keep going until we can get their answers. That’s something the perpetrators of these crimes also need to remember.”
“They’re willing to speak to us because there is an inherent want in Victorians to help their police force.
The importance of the relationship between police and the public is why Australian jurisdictions do so well in terms of their homicide solvability, according to Det Insp Day.
Det Sen Sgt Scarlett said it’s “that one per cent of information” a member of the public provides that could mean a family gets the answer to their question of “why?”.
“One of the greatest issues raised by international law enforcement agencies in terms of their barriers to solving crime, particularly serious and organised crime, was the public being unwilling to provide police with the information they need.
But he acknowledged that some crimes are getting harder to solve with the passage of time.
“HOWEVER, VICTORIA POLICE IS WELL AND TRULY AT THE FOREFRONT OF POLICE JURISDICTIONS IN TERMS OF SOLVABILITY AND CONVICTION RATES. FOR HOMICIDE CASES, WE HAVE A SOLVE-RATE WELL IN EXCESS OF 90 PER CENT. IN MY VIEW, A MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR TO THAT IS WE STILL HAVE THE TRUST OF THE PUBLIC.
The webpage was launched as part of Project Never Give Up in 2015, which in part sought to increase cold case solvability through publicly generated information to provide new avenues of inquiry for police.
“Relationships change, alibis can waver, and forensic technology is advancing daily, which all works in the favour of investigators. “Conversely, witnesses die, memory fades, and biological exhibits degrade, meaning in some ways the clock is ticking.” For this reason, Det Insp Day said his homicide investigators will continue to “work tirelessly” for the families of cold case victims. “The impact on the families when their case is solved 20, 30 or 40 years down the track is as powerful as it is if you’d arrested, charged, and convicted the offender the next day, if not more powerful,” he said. “We ask the public to visit the Cold Case Hub regularly to see if there are any investigations you can help with.
Images Clicking on cold cases 01 Detective Inspector Timothy Day launched the Cold Case Hub so the public can provide detectives with the information they need to break open unsolved investigations. 02 Jane Thurgood-Dove was brutally murdered in front of her children in 1997. Police believe the murder was a case of mistaken identity.
Detective Senior Sergeant Paul Scarlett said the launch of the unit’s Cold Case Hub was the most overt way the Homicide Squad has partnered with the community.
“It’s also about reaching people who don’t watch the news or pick up a newspaper anymore. They’re on social media and we need to let them know we’re still investigating these cases.
“Over time, some investigations become more solvable and others less so. But this can change at any given time depending on what comes out of the shadows,” Det Sen Sgt Scarlett said.
“And please, if you know something, say something. You could hold that one per cent of information that solves a murder.”
“It was clear this is a really valuable tool that we might be able to leverage off to help with our cold case investigations,” Det Insp Day said.
“We need to evolve and find new ways of doing business, and this hub will start people asking questions and making enquiries, which can result in the discovery of new information,” Det Sen Sgt Scarlett said.
“That’s why this hub has so much potential — we are telling the community what we need and we’re giving them the vehicle to help us.”
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Editorial: Emily Wan Photography: John Pallot and supplied
To visit the Homicide Squad Cold Case Hub, visit police.vic.gov.au/cold-cases
POLICE LIFE | WINTER 2021
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The
CAREER IN FOCUS
lympian fficer
When Rachel Jarry joined Victoria Police in 2019, she was embarking on her second life in uniform. But the blue colour might have felt unfamiliar, with the now Werribee-based constable more comfortable in the green and gold of Australia, having forged a career as one of the country’s leading basketballers. That career is still ongoing — in fact, she was pivotal to the Southside Flyers winning their first Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) title just last year — but the back of her playing card already has a list of stats and achievements that comfortably place her among the nation’s best athletes. Constable Jarry has competed in two Olympic games, winning bronze in London in 2012 and achieving a fifth-place finish in Rio in 2016. She was crowned a WNBL champion with the Melbourne Boomers in 2011 and named an WNBL All-Star a year later.
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In 2013, she took her talents to the USA to win a Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) championship with the Minnesota Lynx and then helped Australia to bronze in the 2014 FIBA World Championships.
“The neighbours had a tree that came across our driveway and it was about the perfect height of a hoop, so I used it to practice my shooting. But then the tree got too big, so I took it upon myself to do something about it.
Like most who go on to be elite athletes, Const Jarry’s talent stood out early. Throughout her childhood and teenage years, sport was a constant, as were appearances for junior state basketball teams at Australian under-16 and under-19 championships. At just 16, she moved to Canberra to take up residency at the Australian Institute of Sport.
“A couple of days later, my dad got a knock at the door. It was the neighbours; they had a letter in their hand and asked if we had a problem.
But it was at a much younger age when Const Jarry’s love of sport and an unruly tree branch collided to give an early indication of her natural sense for law and order. “I was about seven or eight at the time and our house had a nice smooth concrete driveway where I could dribble my basketball,” Const Jarry said.
“The letter was written by me, in pink Texta, saying that I was the local council and the tree was too big and had to be cut down. “I’m not sure impersonating council staff was an ideal start for someone who became a police officer. And they never cut down the tree, probably out of spite.” Further instilling Const Jarry’s childhood interest in policing was her grandfather, veteran Chief Superintendent Robert Davis.
Serving Victoria Police for 31 years from the 1950s to the late 1980s, Chief Supt Davis worked for some of the most renowned police units of the era, including the Wireless Patrol, the Russell Street and Broadmeadows Crime Investigation Bureaus and the Russell Street and Frankston Crime Car Squads. His service record lists him as an ‘exemplary officer’ who was once commended for bringing down a large-scale illegal bookmaker ring. Highlighting his career was an Order of Australia Medal he received in 1982 for his service. But to Const Jarry, he was just ‘Pop’. “We’ve always been so proud of him as a family, he’s such a special person,” Const Jarry said. “I can see why he was such a great police officer. He loves making sure everyone is OK and he really likes to help other people. I wish I could’ve seen him as a police officer because everyone says how good he was. “He’s given me some advice and told me to take everything in my stride, to say yes to every opportunity that comes my way and to trust my instincts. He thinks I’ll be great at the job.” Const Jarry's family connection to the force is made stronger by her younger sister Alanna, who works as a senior communications advisor in Victoria Police’s Media and Corporate Communications Department.
Despite the family ties, Const Jarry was still unsure about joining Victoria Police heading into her twenties. But on one night in Melbourne in 2012, a shocking crime removed all her doubt. Const Jarry, then 20, and a female friend had been at a cricket game before heading to bar in Melbourne’s CBD. It was a Saturday night during a WNBL season, so Const Jarry was sober when she and her friend left a bar at 2am and walked towards their car.
Apply she did and, in December 2019, she entered the Victoria Police Academy. Elected as leader of recruit squad 25, Const Jarry racked up academic achievements in her time at the Academy to rival her sporting record, topping her squad and winning the Angela Taylor Memorial Highest Academic Achiever Award, the Blue Ribbon Foundation Tynan Eyre Memorial Operational Safety Highest Achiever Award, and receiving a score of 100 per cent on her final law exam.
That’s when the pair was surrounded by a group of teenagers. Armed with knives, the attackers demanded Const Jarry and her friend to hand over their wallets and mobile phones. The pair obliged, but the group then set upon them, bashing and kicking them as they fell to the ground. While battered and bruised, Const Jarry and her friend fortunately avoided serious injury.
Const Jarry spent her first three months out of the Academy at Caroline Springs Police Station before she went into the WNBL’s Queensland hub to compete in the 2020 season shortened by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
“It was a very traumatic thing that happened to us, but it was made so much easier by the work of the police officers who were first on the scene and then the detectives in the following days, weeks and months as the investigation process played out,” Const Jarry said.
“Right now, I’m just trying to get more confident in my job, speaking to people and helping them,” Const Jarry said.
“The way they helped me made me realise that I wanted to help people in that way. I knew then that I would eventually apply to join Victoria Police.”
She’s now settling into her surrounds at Werribee Police Station.
“I just want to learn as much as I can about general duties policing and go from there. I’m not 100 per cent sure on what units I might want to work for or what I might want to specialise in. “All I really want to do is help people. “In a lot of ways, working for Victoria Police has been what I expected it would be like, but it’s also been different in so many ways. Every day is so different. You don’t know what to expect, and I really enjoy that. “The best part is working with great people who want to help others. It’s a lot like being part of a sports team in that way — we are all working together to achieve a common goal.”
Constable Rachel Jarry is the focus of the new Victoria Police video series, The Recruit. Find out more about her experience of joining the ranks by visiting Victoria Police’s Facebook page.
Images Game changer After a lifetime of taking her basketball career to the highest possible levels, Const Rachel Jarry has followed in the footsteps of her grandfather, veteran Chief Superintendent Robert Davis (pictured above right) and joined Victoria Police. Editorial: Grant Condon Photography: Jesse Wray-McCann and supplied
POLICE LIFE | WINTER 2021
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TRUE CRIME
A WOMAN IS AWOKEN DURING THE NIGHT AND BRUTALLY RAPED BY TWO MASKED MEN IN HER OWN HOME AS HER FIVE DAUGHTERS SLEEP SOUNDLY JUST DOWN THE HALL. It’s a scene many would think was straight out of a horror movie, but on the night of 22 July 1990, this is the reality a 38-year-old Ballarat woman woke to find herself facing. On this night, a then 26-year-old Brett Braddock, along with a second offender whose identity remains unknown to police, broke into the woman’s home, entered her bedroom and placed a hand over her face to wake her. Confused, the woman questioned the two men about who they were. One of them replied: “I am your secret admirer, take off your pants”. The two men then brutally raped the woman after threatening the lives of her daughters if she tried to fight them or scream.
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Fearing the men would act on their threats against her children, the women decided not to call the police. It wasn’t until her daughter, concerned for her mother’s wellbeing, spoke to a neighbour about the incident that police were alerted to the attack. Despite a dedicated and thorough effort by local detectives from the Ballarat Crime Investigation Unit, no offenders were ever identified and the case remained unsolved. That was until a few small pieces of DNA evidence frozen for decades helped police track down and charge one offender almost 30 years later.
The two men took turns restraining the woman while the other raped her before leaving the bedroom with a final threat — “Lie still and don’t tell anybody or I will kill the kids”.
Semen, taken from the woman’s nightie and sheets, was stored in a freezer facility at Victoria Police’s forensics hub in anticipation of advances in DNA technology in the future.
Shaking and upset, the woman went to her oldest daughter’s bedroom and told her what had happened and later told her own mother about it.
Sexual Crime Squad Detective Senior Constable Phil Drews, who has been the lead investigator on this case since late 2018, said Victoria Police started freezing DNA samples from homicides,
POLICE LIFE | WINTER 2021
sexual assaults and armed robberies early in the 1980s due to a worldwide buzz about DNA evidence being used to solve investigations in the future. “A group of people in the forensics team had the foresight to freeze DNA from major crimes so that when the technology advanced, it could be used to help solve crimes,” Det Sen Const Drews said. In 2011, these DNA samples were analysed to create profiles and were added to the National DNA Database. Among these samples was the seminal evidence collected from the woman’s bed. It was tested in 2012 but no match was found on the database. This meant police had to rely on good old-fashioned detective work to link this DNA profile to an offender. In 2016, the Sexual Crime Squad’s Cold Case Team took the case file out and started looking into it. They set about collecting as much investigationrelated material as possible.
“They were able to get a lot of useful information, including a thorough victim statement through the Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal, which proved to be very helpful in building a base for the investigation,” Det Sen Const Drews said. It wasn’t until late 2018 that Det Sen Const Drews took over the investigation when the previous detective transferred out of the unit. Having all the base information gathered, Det Sen Const Drews set about creating a list of persons of interest (POIs). “The victim statement proved to be invaluable,” he said. “She stated that one of the offenders referred to himself as her secret admirer and mentioned her having a 16-year-old daughter. “This led me to think it was someone who knew her, not well enough that he was concerned she would recognise his voice, but enough to know details about her life. “Because of this, I focused my search for POIs in the local area because I thought it might have been someone who lived near her.” Given the brutality of the crime, Det Sen Const Drews also decided to approach the investigation by looking into people who had previous dealings with police. “I tracked down all the old attendance registers from the Ballarat area from the years around 1990,” he said. “Attendance registers are records of people who were arrested and interviewed by any police member. They have information about what they were arrested for and interviewed about.” From these records, seven POIs were identified. One stuck out to the detective. “He lived right next door to the victim at the time of the offence,” Det Sen Const Drews said.
“He was arrested about a year after the incident for a fairly minor offence in the scheme of things, but the fact he lived right next door and would have seen the woman and her children daily stuck out to me.” After requesting a full criminal history of the POI, a history of more serious offending was discovered and Det Sen Const Drews organised for a letter requesting a voluntary DNA sample to be delivered. This POI was Braddock, who was now living in the small regional town of Sea Lake. When the local police officer served the letter, Braddock agreed to provide a voluntary DNA sample. “When he easily agreed to give the sample, I thought he might not be the person we were after because, if he did it, why would he be so willing to give a sample?” Det Sen Const Drews said. “But after comparing his voluntary sample with the historical DNA, it showed an extremely strong match. It's 100 billion times more likely he was the contributor to the DNA taken from the bed.” With DNA evidence linking Braddock to the crime, Det Sen Const Drews headed to Sea Lake on 2 April 2019 to arrest him and take him in for questioning. “We were able to get him to talk about his connection to the victim. He could recall police coming to his house the day after the offence took place and speaking to his wife,” Det Sen Const Drews said. “He was adamant from the start that he had no personal relationship with the victim and that he had never been to her house.
“I think he did this in an attempt to distance himself from the crime, but he ended up implicating himself further as we were then able to ask him ‘If you didn’t know her and had never been to her house, why was DNA that matches yours found in her bed?’.” With no explanation to offer, Braddock was charged and appeared before the County Court in Melbourne on one charge of burglary with the intent of committing sexual assault, two charges of aggravated rape, one charge relating to the act of committing the rape and another for aiding the co-offender. Despite claiming to have no recollection of committing the horrific offence, Braddock pleaded guilty to all charges on 6 July 2020. “His defence team had a forensic expert review our full case file to see whether our DNA evidence held up to scrutiny,” Det Sen Const Drews said. “Due to the way our forensic team records all handling and storage of evidence, they were unable to find any weaknesses and, at that point, Braddock was ready to offer a guilty plea. “This was a great result, not just for the case, but for the victim. It meant she didn’t have to give evidence at a trial or at a committal hearing. “She is still very traumatised by that night, so I was really glad she didn’t have to re-live that trauma in a courtroom.” Braddock was sentenced on 5 August 2020 to 12 years and two months jail with a non-parole period of nine years. “I’ve kept in contact with the victim and it was a huge relief to her when he was sentenced,” Det Sen Const Drews said. Investigations to identify the second offender are still ongoing.
Images Finding answers Using historical police records, DNA evidence that had been frozen for 30 years and good, old-fashioned detective work, Det Sen Const Phil Drews was able to identify and charge a man for a horrific rape committed in 1990. Editorial: Danielle Ford Photography: Grant Condon
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Ceremonies MASTER OF
He’s spent 34 years walking the halls of the Victoria Police Academy, working away in its classrooms and marching across its hallowed grounds, but Sergeant Jonathan Payne has no intention of making a late career change anytime soon. As Victoria Police’s longest-serving drill instructor, Sgt Payne has seen more than 20,000 people arrive at the Academy as bright-eyed recruits and leave as newly minted officers. Since becoming an Operational Safety and Tactics Training (OSTT) instructor in 1984, he’s led many of them through lessons in tactical communications, firearm use and unarmed combat, to name a few. “OSTT instructors do the whole gamut,” Sgt Payne said. “In my role as sergeant, I have instructional duties, but I also manage small teams of instructors who do drill and ceremonial work.” Sgt Payne is widely known for his expertise in parade and ceremony, specialising in marching, presentation and event programming.
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But it’s in the field of drill, a regimented style of training, where he has reached almost legendary status. It is a formative part of every officer’s experience at the Victoria Police Academy — including Sgt Payne’s. “After working general duties for the first eight years of my career, I was looking for a change,” he said. “I looked back on the things I enjoyed most during my time with the force and realised that being a recruit in the training environment stood out. I was really interested in how I was taught and influenced at the time. “So, I came back to the Academy.” It’s clear that Sgt Payne has always had, and always will have, a passion for the field of education. It’s the diverse nature of the role that keeps him in the job all these years later, along with the sense of pride that comes with being a part of the Victoria Police community. “Every day is different. It’s fantastic,” Sgt Payne said. “But what I really love about the work is seeing students go through the Academy from start to finish and supporting them along the way.”
Sgt Payne’s commitment to helping recruits is one of the main reasons he was awarded with an Australian Police Medal (APM) in January this year. The 2021 Australia Day Honours recognised Sgt Payne for his dedication to the Victoria Police Academy and exemplary service in the field of operational safety. His contribution to Victoria Police's People Development Command is unrivalled in the eyes of many fellow instructors, but particularly former students. This became evident after Sgt Payne was awarded with the APM, when he received emails of congratulations from an incredible number of current officers and police veterans scattered across Australia. He’s the first drill sergeant at Victoria Police to receive the prestigious honour, but Sgt Payne remains adamant that the APM is a reflection on the Academy as a whole. “I see it as an endorsement of what we do here. It’s really about the influence that training has on recruits,” Sgt Payne said. “I’ve had fantastic mentors since I first started in the job too, and I wouldn’t be where I am today if I hadn’t had the opportunity to work with those people.”
Sgt Payne strives to share his passion for the job with the group of instructors he manages day-to-day, following in the footsteps of his former mentors. While many may remember him as the strict, disciplinarian instructor that kept recruits metaphorically, and quite literally, in line throughout their time at the Academy — others will recall an undertone of “theatre” behind Sgt Payne’s teaching. “In my view, entertainment and learning are very closely aligned,” Sgt Payne said. “I make sure that students understand what they’ve got to do, but I also put on a bit of a show to make sure they go away from their class having enjoyed the experience.” When he’s not helping students find their feet, Sgt Payne is walking front and centre as Commander of the Academy’s Ensign Party, leading the group of officers responsible for presenting the Victoria Police Ensign at ceremonies. The esteemed Ensign flag is the most important part of a graduation parade, signifying that all Victoria Police members both past and present will witness the ceremony.
It’s brought out by the Ensign Party at the beginning of the celebration and is held for the remainder of the event.
“I feel privileged to have been part of the project and I’m very proud of the end result,” Sgt Payne said.
Sgt Payne has played a crucial part in this ceremonial process for many years, and thoroughly enjoys watching graduates perform their final drill and march in front of family and friends.
“But it’s important to remember our history. It holds the police family together, it’s what puts us all on the same page.”
“It’s something that I will continue to look forward to for the duration of my career,” he said. Originally designed by former Chief Commissioner Selwyn Porter in 1955, the Ensign underwent a major redesign in 2015 after Sgt Payne suggested that the flag could be more inclusive of Protective Service Officers (PSOs), a significant part of Victoria Police’s workforce. “I felt that the existing Ensign wasn’t truly representative of the force that graduates were about to enter, so I initiated a redesign,” Sgt Payne said, adding that the lengthy process even required endorsement from representatives of the Queen. The updated Ensign flag (pictured above) now features a silver Victoria Police emblem on one side, representative of police officers, and a gold emblem on the other, in recognition of PSOs across the state.
The tradition of attending the Academy itself is something that Sgt Payne hopes incoming students continue to look forward to. “The experiences I had at the Academy were some of the best I had in my career,” he said. “I encourage recruits to be kind, self-driven and take initiative during their induction to the force. “These are the qualities that will see you through.”
Images Expert in his field Sgt Jonathan Payne plays a significant role in all things drill and ceremonial at the Victoria Police Academy. Editorial: Lane Mihaljevic Photography: Grant Condon
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BEHIND THE BADGE
MARK HESSE
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Rank: Senior Sergeant Age: 57 Graduated: 1982 Station: Kinglake, Marysville, Eildon, Alexandra and Yea. Why did you join Victoria Police? I grew up with exposure to policing because my father, Ces, was a detective sergeant. He finished up his career with the force at the South Melbourne Criminal Investigation Branch. At the age of 18, I headed off to the Victoria Police Academy. I knew that it was secure employment with a chance to genuinely make a difference to the community. The shift work appealed to me, with days off during the week when the general public are at work, giving me time to spend in the bush. Tell us about your career. I commenced my career as a trainee at the old Broadmeadows Police Station on the corner of Widford and Freda Street in 1982. They talk about policing being a front row seat to the greatest show on earth — and the Broadmeadows show was just that. I loved it, there was never a dull moment running from job to job with some tremendous police officers. Heroin was the main problem at the time, and I see similarities with the drug ice today. It is the drugs that drive the crime. I also worked the Ash Wednesday Bushfires. Little did I know at the time, bushfires would shape my career later in life. I ended up with an ongoing position at Broadmeadows and stayed for four years, moving to the new station in 1984 where it remains today. I thought about a change to the Crime Investigation Unit, as it was a natural progression in busy stations at the time, but I always wanted to work in the bush.
Although I had grown up in Melbourne, my mother came from the family farm between Buxton and Marysville, so I spent a great deal of my childhood there. In 1986 it was very difficult to secure a position in the country, but I ended up transferring to Seymour, arriving on Melbourne Cup Day.
I’m not someone that spends a great deal of time in the office. Instead, I spend most of my time in a 'hands-on' role, attending to missing person searches, logging protests, accidents and all manners of emergency events. Can you name a highlight of your time with Victoria Police?
I married nearby at Avenel and my wife and I still live on the outskirts of Seymour at Puckapunyal today. Our three children grew up in Seymour and we now have five grandchildren.
Two years ago, we had a ceremony at Marysville to celebrate the return of the original Australian flag that was flown at the police station during the Black Saturday Bushfires.
The area has been very good to us.
The flag was badly damaged as a result of the fire and then kept for 10 years at the Victoria Police Museum.
I was promoted to sergeant in 2002 at Craigieburn, travelling 85km to work for nearly three years. At the end of 2004, I transferred to Kilmore as a sergeant and spent six years there. I formed part of the first response to the Black Saturday Bushfires at Kilmore East in 2009. We also lost my grandparents’ farm during this time. The devastation to communities across our part of Victoria was extreme and the way these people have rebuilt their lives is a credit to their character and resilience. Tell us about your current role. My position is cluster manager and Municipal Emergency Response Coordinator (MERC) for the Murrindindi Shire. There are five non-24-hour stations in this area — Kinglake, Marysville, Eildon, Alexandra and Yea. My current position was created as a result of the Black Saturday Bushfires and I was promoted to senior sergeant in January 2010.
It was returned to Marysville and is now on display in the foyer of the police station. The ceremony was very impressive, with a guest appearance by the former Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton. You’ve worked in the Murrindindi Shire for 11 years, what has made you stay? My position suits me, and I thoroughly enjoy working in the bush with partner agencies. Whether we are locating a lost person, diffusing a logging protest or clearing a road during a storm, I feel productive and can see results that matter. I have met some extraordinary people working across Murrindindi. They are a resourceful lot who get the job done with little or no back-up. Image Community strength 01 Sen Sgt Mark Hesse reflects on 11 years of policing in the Murrindindi Shire and the devastation of the Black Saturday Bushfires. 02 The Australian flag flown at Marysville Police Station during the fires is displayed in the station foyer. Editorial and photography: Lane Mihaljevic
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REMEMBERING
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WITH darkness descending, Senior Sergeant Jim Morrison knows his snipers, assault teams and other Tasmanian Special Operations Group (SOG) police will be stretched too thin if the siege continues into the night.
As a priority, the SOG officers also rescued two general duties police who had been pinned down by the offender’s gunfire for several hours in a ditch at the Seascape property.
In asking for Victoria’s help, Mr Morrison knew the national training, and other interoperability exercises they had done together, had primed the two SOG units to work together in such a crisis.
“Our capability to secure the area and manage the siege was only going to be for a limited time, and it was being whittled away by all the tasks we were required to do,” Mr Morrison said.
“For Port Arthur, we just carried out what we had already been doing – we carried out the friendship, the training and the preparation we had built together,” Mr Morrison said.
It’s the afternoon of 28 April 1996 and Sen Sgt Morrison and his fellow tactical officers are positioned in the forest surrounding the Seascape guest house on the south east coast of Tasmania.
“I could foresee this was going to be a protracted incident.”
Mr Harwood, Mr Hayes, their two teams and a Victorian SOG command contingent raced to Hobart via planes so loaded with equipment Mr Hayes said they “almost dragged their arses getting off the tarmac”.
They have their firearms and focus firmly fixed on the Cape Cod-style house from which an offender is sporadically firing various semiautomatic weapons into the forest. Three innocent hostages are also believed to be in the house and the entire Tasmania Police SOG is deployed at the scene. Just hours earlier, 3.5 kilometres further down the Arthur Highway, the offender opened fire on tourists at the Port Arthur Historic Site, eventually murdering a total of 35 and injuring 23. He then holed himself up at Seascape with a cache of weapons and ammunition placed around the house. The now veteran, then senior sergeant Mr Morrison said his troops had the capability to handle the siege but also had to deploy some of the team as a ‘ready reaction force’ to respond to any other developments at or related to what occurred at Port Arthur.
So Mr Morrison sent an unprecedented request up through his chain of command and across the Bass Strait to the Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police. For the first time in Australia’s history, a police tactical team was being called in to cross the border and assist another state’s police force. As the team leaders for the Victoria Police SOG’s two on-call teams that night, Craig Harwood, then an acting sergeant, and Michael Hayes, then a sergeant, were at home when their pagers went off, telling them to get to Essendon Airport for immediate deployment to Tasmania. In national training courses in the years prior, Mr Harwood had long been recognised as one of the best snipers in the country and Mr Hayes was a leader among Australian police in close quarters battle. The national training sought to create uniformity and consistency across the various state’s tactical teams if they ever had to combine in response to emergencies such as terrorist attacks.
“I think the pilots pushed the limits for us,” he said. In Hobart, they were sworn in as Tasmania Police special constables and then took a hair-raising car trip to the scene that left the vehicle’s brakes smoking. When the Victorians arrived, Mr Morrison was not only relieved to see fellow SOG operators he called his “brothers”, but incredibly thankful to see his friend Mr Harwood, who he had worked closely with as a fellow instructor at national counter terrorism training courses. “To see them turn up, in my state, in our time of need, it was very reassuring,” Mr Morrison said. “I was in operational mode, so in one sense, they were just another team coming in, but it was deeply rooted in me that they were people I knew, and I knew how we were going to work together.
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To see them turn up, in my state, in our time of need, it was very reassuring. “It was like the two units had been working together for years.” At 2am, about 12 hours since the siege began, the joint leadership team paired Victorian SOG snipers with Tasmanian SOG operators and sent them out to bolster the hidden cordon they had around the house. With the extra manpower now on scene, they could also bolster the emergency action (EA) and deliberate action (DA) plans already in place. “The EA plan is if we get information that he’s killing hostages or something dynamic happens, that requires us to go in and resolve the issue by breaching the stronghold and arresting him,” Mr Harwood said. “That’s a reactive, pretty down-and-dirty-type plan. “In this case, it was basically to drive up in a number of vehicles and hit the stronghold from various directions.” Given the house had about 200 metres of clear land surrounding it, the officers predicted up to a third of their force could be shot by the offender as they sped towards it.
For any breach of the house, they had elaborate methods of distracting the offender. “We had an Air Force F-111 jet on its way down that we were going to use to fly over at sonic speeds to create a huge sonic boom above the house and basically blow out every window at the moment we entered,” Mr Harwood said. As the night wore on, Mr Harwood switched roles, grabbing his rifle and donning his ghillie camouflage suit to deploy as a sniper at about 6am. “I had started thinking maybe the best resolution to the incident was a sniper shot, and I thought I might be the best one to apply that due to my skillset,” he said. At one point, Mr Harwood saw the offender come to the front flyscreen door and continue with his indiscriminate shooting.
“If it’s to save a hostage, no problems, that’s our job,” Mr Harwood said.
It is thought the offender fired up to 300 rounds during the siege.
“We risk our own existence for someone else’s we don’t even know.
“I couldn’t take a shot because I couldn’t tell if he had a hostage in front of him,” he said.
“That’s what policing is all about.”
“All I could see was a silhouette with muzzle flashes.”
The DA is a proactive plan where police initiate the action to resolve the situation, and at Seascape, they left no stone unturned to make sure their DA was as successful as possible.
But it wouldn’t be long before Mr Harwood would again have the offender in his sights.
To protect the assault teams in any DA approach on the house, enquiries were made for any military tanks in Tasmania they could commandeer. 16
After no luck finding any armoured regiments or armoured museums with a tank, or even an armoured vehicle from a cash-in-transit company, they secured use of a nearby bulldozer with a large front blade.
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Just before 8am, police noticed an unexplained fire break out in the house. The flames quickly consumed the building and the offender ran out unarmed, naked and on fire.
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“I was in my breathing cycle, I had my safety off and his head quartered, so I could have taken the shot,” Mr Harwood said. “I did think about it. “But I was not justified to take the shot. “If he came out firing a weapon, it’s a different situation. “But the mission was to safely arrest the offender and put him before the court without a further loss of life, anyone’s life.” Mr Harwood got on the radio and gave the codeword to launch the EA. Mr Hayes and Mr Morrison led the drive-up assault to reach the offender. With the house now fully ablaze next to them and the fire causing ammunition in the stronghold to cook off, Mr Hayes recalls a “surreal” moment when time seemed to stand still. “The sound of the exploding rounds seemed to disappear, you couldn’t feel the intense heat anymore and it was like everything went silent,” Mr Hayes said. “It went through my mind that we were all training our firearms on Australia’s worst mass murderer. “It would have only taken one of us to pull the trigger and I’m sure it would have been a maelstrom of fire. “But that’s when our training came to the fore because none of us operated off emotion, none of us decided to be the judge, the jury or the executioner and, instead, we did the professional job the community entrusted us to do.
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We took the tragedy by the scruff of the neck and decided to use it to make meaningful, positive change. “In those milliseconds, the professionalism, restraint and the ethos of those operators showed why our training and our interoperability was so important.” Many of the SOG operators standing over the offender had previously been involved in incidents when offenders had been justifiably shot and killed. But on this occasion, their clinical professionalism, precision and integrity came in the form of restraint. Although that day 25 years ago was one of Australia’s darkest, much good has been birthed from it. It united politicians to bring about sweeping gun controls for automatic and semi-automatic weapons like those used in the tragedy. And one of the most horrific moments on that day — the murder of Mikac sisters Alannah, 6, and Madeline, 3, and their mother Nanette at the Port Arthur Historic Site – was the catalyst for the Alannah and Madeline Foundation. Established by their father Walter a year after the tragedy, the charity cares for children who have experienced or witnessed violence and runs programs to prevent violence in the lives of children.
Mr Morrison knows they did all they could on that fateful day in 1996 – all 35 victims, including the three hostages at Seascape, had been shot before the SOG could arrive — but it still galls him that some of the most highly-trained police in the country simply weren’t able to do more. “We had so much to offer, yet we didn’t get the chance to stop events occurring that day,” he said. “At the very least, I wanted to have an impact, to save one life.” But by supporting the Alannah and Madeline Foundation, Mr Morrison and his fellow former SOG brothers are helping the charity save the lives of countless children. “I didn’t think I ever wanted to have anything to do with the events at Port Arthur again,” he said. “I thought I had locked it away and thrown the key away. I didn’t want to reach for the key again. “But for a cause like the Alannah and Madeline Foundation, it’s worth it. “So I found the key, I opened the trunk and I’m back into this 100 per cent to highlight all the amazing good that has come from it.”
To support the work of the Alannah and Madeline Foundation, visit amf.org.au
Images Brothers in arms 01 As the smoke began to clear, Michael Hayes took this photo of the scene of the siege just before he and his fellow Victorian Special Operations Group police left for home. 02 The two Victoria Police Special Operations Group teams not long after they had arrested the offender. 03 Victorian Special Operations group police pack their gear following the arrest. 04 Jim Morrison helps take command of the Tasmanian Special Operations Group officers as they arrive at the scene. 05 Craig Harwood and Michael Hayes had been awarded as the best sniper and best close quarters battle officer in Australia respectively in the years before the tragedy. 06 Craig Harwood, Jim Morrison, Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton, founder of the Alannah and Madeline Foundation and father and husband to three of the victims Walter Mikac, and Michael Hayes before embarking on the walk to support the foundation’s ‘Buddy Bag’ program for kids in crisis. Editorial: Jesse Wray-McCann Photography: Yuri Kouzmin and supplied
“Port Arthur was a seminal moment for Australia,” Mr Hayes said. “As a nation, we took the tragedy by the scruff of the neck and decided to use it to make meaningful, positive change. “The Alannah and Madeline Foundation is probably the epitome of what good can come of such a tragedy.” Although the three friends had already played their part 25 years ago, Mr Hayes, Mr Harwood and Mr Morrison continue to be involved in the event’s legacy. In April this year, Mr Hayes and Mr Harwood walked — with Mr Morrison driving a support car — 410 kilometres over 10 days to raise more than $100,000 for the foundation, to honour the work of all first responders and commemorate the 25th anniversary.
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L A C O L THE
POLICE
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Knowing the locals is an important part of policing in any small town, but in Mirboo North, the residents particularly prefer people they know. In the tight-knit yet welcoming South Gippsland town, having a surname people recognise can go a long way for police.
Nestled high in the rolling green hills of the Strzelecki Ranges, Mirboo North acts as a gateway between the rest of South Gippsland to its south west and the Latrobe Valley to the north east.
So, it helps that all three of Mirboo North’s officers are part of the fabric of the community.
Sgt Haw said the town’s proximity to the Latrobe Valley, which has the second highest crime rate of any local government area in the state, creates a unique situation for Mirboo North.
Sergeant Don Haw and Leading Senior Constable Jeff Stevens were born and bred in the town and Ldg Sen Const Brett O’Connor married a local and has lived in Mirboo North for almost a decade.
“The crooks tend to stay in the Valley and we’re pretty safe because we’re out of sight and out of mind. But every now and then, we get someone coming up here and doing a bit of late-night ‘shopping’, as I call it,” he said.
“It’s a very supportive and inclusive community where everyone knows each other,” Sgt Haw said.
“It can be a bit of a challenge because they’re not our local crooks.
“You can get towns that have cliques, whereas Mirboo North is a more holistic community.”
W E H AV E T O R E LY O N OUR FORENSIC E VI D E N CE A N D O N TH E C O M M U N I TY I F T H E Y’ V E S E E N A S U S PI CI O U S VEHICLE GETTING AROUND T HE A R E A .
Sgt Haw, who grew up on a farm at Mirboo North, said the town benefits from a ‘Goldilocks’ factor with its population of about 2300. “The size of the town is just right,” he said. “Jeff, who has lived in Mirboo North his entire life, has said to me that between me and him, we should know about 90 per cent of the town. “It’s hard to describe to someone who hasn’t grown up in a small country town just how interwoven people are, and just how much weight being a local can carry.” It was early in Sgt Haw’s time as an officer in Mirboo North that he learnt the value in being a born-and-bred local. “A couple of years ago, we had a family here whose sons were always a bit of trouble and their dad was known to be a bit of a hothead and prone to going off at police if they had to go around to the house,” he said. “I had to go there one day to speak to one of the boys and I thought, ‘How bad can he be?’ “He came out, I introduced myself and he looked at my name badge and he said, ‘Oh, are you related to such-and-such?’ “I said, ‘Yeah, I am’, and he goes, ‘Ah yeah. Good’. “From that moment on, I had him onside and it was purely because I was a local.”
The team at Mirboo North is part of a cluster of non-24-hour police stations in South Gippsland — such as Leongatha, Foster and Korumburra — that share and rotate nightshift duties to keep the area covered 24/7. Sgt Haw said that even on day shifts, they can be called to provide back-up to units in locations as far as Cowes and Wilsons Promontory, both 90 minutes away, Nyora, 45 minutes away, and anywhere in between.
“If it’s a busy shift, you can do two or three jobs, but in that time, you’ve spent two or three hours getting to the jobs,” Sgt Haw said. “On nightshift, we cover the whole South Gippsland area and it’s not unusual to do 300km of driving in a night just to cover the different towns.” Police from Leongatha recently helped Sgt Haw respond to a request from paramedics to attend a job near Mirboo North, but it was Sgt Haw’s local knowledge that came to the fore. The paramedics had to take a mother of two young boys to hospital overnight after a snake bit her. The woman, of Filipino origin, had limited English skills and was unable to communicate where her sons should be taken to for the night while she was treated at hospital. The police arrived and Sgt Haw immediately realised what needed to be done. “Having dealt with that family before and having some local knowledge, I knew who her nearest connections were in the town,” he said. Sgt Haw phoned the local school principal, who organised a teacher to go to the school and pull up the boys’ emergency contact details. Sgt Haw was then able to contact a family the boys knew and arranged for them to stay the night. “For me, these boys were in a scary situation with their mum going to hospital, so going into state care wasn’t an option,” Sgt Haw said. “I wanted to see them stay with someone they were familiar with. “The Leongatha members said to me, ‘We’re glad you were here because we wouldn’t have had a clue who to get on to’.” Sgt Haw said the experience reinforced his love for the community he lives and works in. “Later that night I got a text message from the principal saying, ‘We’ll have lunch organised for the boys tomorrow and anything else they need’,” he said. “Everyone in this town just gets in and pulls together.” Editorial and photography: Jesse Wray-McCann
Mirboo North’s Sgt Don Haw (right) regularly works closely with nearby Leongatha police Sgt Dale McCahon and Sen Const Nathan Grist.
With plenty of forest surrounding Mirboo North, local police officers are sometimes called out to investigate cars dumped in the bush.
Being familiar with all the locals is an important part of Sgt Don Haw’s job at Mirboo North.
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PRIMED TO Every 12 minutes, a Victoria Police officer responds to an incident involving a person experiencing a mental health crisis, and First Constable Jack Van Den Driest knows firsthand the importance of being properly equipped to handle these situations. Const Van Den Driest joined Victoria Police nearly three years ago and, in that time, mental health-related events have been one of the most common types of jobs he has attended. While he always felt prepared and equipped at every one of these jobs, a specialised training course he recently undertook has further enhanced his ability to help people experiencing a mental health crisis. PRIME (Police Responding in Mental Health Events) training was introduced as a mandatory course for all frontline Victoria Police officers in early 2020 and is designed to improve police capability to manage incidents involving people experiencing mental health issues. The mandatory training program has been delivered to about nine per cent of all frontline police, with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic having delayed delivery of the face-to-face course. Const Van Den Driest completed the training earlier this year and said, since then, he has already attended a number of jobs where he could implement what he learnt. “The day after doing my training, I was at a job where a woman was acting erratically inside her house,” he said. Const Van Den Driest was able to use specialised communication techniques he’d learnt in the PRIME training to engage with the woman, avoiding going down the path of forcing entry into her property.
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“After numerous failed communication attempts, I noticed a football team scarf on her front railing, so I decided to ask her about it and this got her attention and she began talking,” Const Van Den Driest said. “Between questions about football I was able to build rapport and ask welfare-related questions to gain an understanding of the situation and her wellbeing.” After talking with the woman for a period of time, Const Van Den Driest determined she did not fit the criteria for a mental health assessment by a registered doctor or mental health practitioner under section 351 of the Mental Health Act 2014. Constable Van Den Driest then provided the appropriate referrals to assist her, confident he had addressed the incident appropriately. “As a result I was able to clear and attend to a number of other jobs in a timely manner, rather than sitting at hospital for hours, causing distress to the female, when a referral is able to provide ongoing assistance on her terms," he said. PRIME senior educator Sally Kershaw said the course was developed in consultation with mental health experts from across Australia. “When developing the training, we sought input from various mental health research institutes and used real-life examples of mental health events police have responded to as a base for the sessions,” Ms Kershaw said. Victoria Police’s Mental Health Reference Group was included in the development of the training and liaised with members of the community to have them provide lived experiences for the training program.
While reforms to be made following recommendations from the Royal Commission into Victoria's Mental Health System will reduce the reliance on police attendance at mental health emergencies, Deputy Commissioner Neil Paterson said ensuring police officers were best equipped for these type of callouts remains a key priority for the organisation. “The commission has recommended Triple Zero (000) calls regarding mental health crises be directed to ambulance officers instead of police to provide a care response, and this is a recommendation Victoria Police has fully supported,” DC Paterson said. “However, Victoria Police will continue to invest in high-level training to ensure our officers are best equipped to help anyone experiencing a mental health crisis. “While we will not be the first respondents to all these events in the future as we are now, as emergency service workers who engage with thousands of community members each week, it’s important our officers are trained for any situation.” Image Willing and able Const Jack Van Den Driest (middle) is one of many frontline officers already using skills learnt in Victoria Police’s specialised mental health response training to better support members of the community during mental health-related events. Pictured with Const Van Den Driest is PRIME police educator A/Sen Sgt Renee Grant and mental health educator Sally Kershaw. Editorial and photography: Danielle Ford
For 24/7 crisis support or suicide prevention services, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14. If life is in danger call Triple Zero (000). Current and former Victoria Police employees and their families can also access wellbeing services via bluespacewellbeing.com.au.
The Leading Edge
While most teenagers might prefer a sleep-in instead of an early morning workout, a ground-breaking program is bringing high school students in Corio together with police to break down barriers — and it’s all being done before breakfast. The Blue EDGE program, delivered by Blue Light Victoria, was first introduced in Fitzroy, Ballarat, Shepparton and Macleod in 2019, giving students aged 12 to 17 the opportunity to take part in physical training, mentoring and personal development sessions for eight weeks of the school year. The pilot program received an overwhelmingly positive response from both students and schools, prompting Blue Light Victoria to facilitate Blue EDGE programs in four additional locations across the state. Now the program taking place at Northern Bay College in Corio is joining the initiative’s growing list of success stories.
“We do everything that we ask the kids to do,” Sen Sgt Gleeson said. “I’m a big believer of leading by example.” Participating officers are committed to their role as mentors, providing support, advice and guidance to the students both on and off the field. “The physical training sessions are followed by a sit-down breakfast,” Sen Sgt Gleeson said. “It’s during this time that we really get the chance to interact with the students, many of whom are dealing with complex problems in their personal lives.” Students also hear from a wide variety of guest speakers over the course of the program. “The presentations aim to increase the kids’ self-esteem, resilience and wellbeing by teaching them valuable life skills,” Sen Sgt Gleeson said.
Blue Light Victoria president and Western Division Commander Debra Robertson said the Blue EDGE program has been a huge success so far. “As a former student of the area, I am very proud to see such a positive response to the program,” Cmdr Robertson said. “Hearing stories about some of the adversities that the young people are experiencing is heart-breaking, but on the other hand, hearing about how this program is helping them with their confidence, friendships, schooling and family life is just amazing. Not to mention the students’ change in attitude and thinking toward police. It has also been surprising to see the mental health benefit to all of the police members involved. “A big thank you to everyone who has made this possible.”
Every Tuesday and Thursday morning, 22 students arrive at school bright and early to participate in a physical training session delivered by local fitness professionals.
“Whether it’s a session on career planning, a visit from Highway Patrol, or a discussion led by a member of the Victoria Police senior leadership team, the students are always keen to participate.”
Blue Light Victoria has engaged 126 students in the Blue EDGE program so far, with plans to increase the number of schools and community partners involved over the next two years.
The activities start at 7.15am on the dot, giving the kids between 30 and 45 minutes to participate in anything from team sports to gym classes alongside their peers.
Sen Sgt Gleeson is proud of the students’ efforts and has seen a significant change in their attitudes towards police over the course of the school term.
But it’s not just the students who get to work on their handball or fine-tune their forehand volley.
“There is definitely a shift in the students’ body language between the beginning of the program and the end,” she said.
Image Breaking down barriers Sen Sgt Janet Gleeson (second row, second from right) and her colleagues at Corio Police Station have thoroughly enjoyed participating in the Blue EDGE Program at Northern Bay College.
Blue EDGE police custodian Senior Sergeant Janet Gleeson said officers from Corio Police Station participate in every facet of the program.
Editorial: Lane Mihaljevic Photography: Supplied
“That in itself has been extremely rewarding to watch.”
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TARGETING SHOOTERS DESPITE BEING AT THE BALLISTICS UNIT FOR 15 YEARS, SENIOR SERGEANT STEPHEN FARRAR IS STILL CAPTIVATED BY THE WORK HE AND HIS COLLEAGUES DO IN HELPING SOLVE GUN CRIMES. 22
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“To be able to link a particular fired bullet or fired case with a firearm, to the exclusion of all other firearms, fascinates me,” Sen Sgt Farrar said.
“At the end of that, if we think it’s a match, one of us still needs to travel and directly look at the items under a microscope to verify if it is a match or an elimination.”
“I certainly understand how we do it, but still, the fact that it is even possible to do is pretty incredible.”
And this is where the real strength of the unit lies, not just in its technology, but in the unparalleled skills and deep-seated knowledge of the examiners.
As the officer in charge of the Ballistics Unit, Sen Sgt Farrar leads a painstakingly professional team of 14 police officers and four Victorian Public Service employees. The unit’s job is two-fold — to attend and examine firearm-related crime scenes, and to examine firearms and ammunition that may have been used in crimes. The Ballistics Unit attends about 100 scenes and examines about 1100 firearm-related objects each year. Every gun leaves its own unique “fingerprint” on the cartridge cases and bullets it fires, so it is the responsibility of the Ballistics Unit to meticulously uncover any connection between the two. In the pursuit of this, Sen Sgt Farrar said the unit uses an arsenal of equipment and technology at its base at the Victoria Police Forensic Services Centre in Macleod. “We’ve got some amazing gear,” Sen Sgt Farrar said. “Some of the stuff we’ve got is high-end, expensive technology.” To determine if a bullet or case is from the same weapon used in a shooting incident, some of the primary tools the team uses are powerful comparison microscopes. These instruments allow an operator to place a bullet or case on one side and splice the image together with another bullet or case on the other side. One of the comparison microscopes also allows them to link in with ballistics units from police forces in other states and compare fired ammunition components through a highdefinition interstate link. “For instance, we’re able to link in with our counterparts in Queensland to see if a firearm used in Brisbane is the same as one used in Melbourne,” Sen Sgt Farrar said.
“Without the incredible training and hard work our guys do to achieve the level of expertise they have, all of that equipment would amount to nothing, it might as well be boat anchors,” Sen Sgt Farrar said. To become a true ballistics expert is no small feat. From start to finish, the unit’s staff can go through up to nine years of intensely thorough training and different qualification levels. “That’s the sort of time that doctors spend learning and, like doctors, we continue to learn throughout the entirety of our careers as our science and technology evolve,” Sen Sgt Farrar said. The laboratory proficiency training the staff must continue to complete throughout their careers is similarly gruelling. But Sen Sgt Farrar said it is vital for them to be able to give reliable results to investigators and the courts, especially for major crimes. “The most important work we do is investigating the death of a human,” he said. “If we’re going to give evidence in the Supreme Court in relation to a homicide, we need to be pretty sure of ourselves and our science, and we need to have the required knowledge to make the right decisions. “There’s a fair bit at stake for the defendant and to get that wrong is just not something we want to entertain. “I’d be horrified to think that we might send an investigation down the wrong path through an incorrect opinion, but I’m confident that doesn’t occur.” Sen Sgt Farrar recalls once hearing that the Homicide Squad considers their responsibility to investigate the death of a fellow human being to be a reverent privilege.
“It was something that really resonated with me when I first heard that,” he said. “So when I came to the Ballistics Unit and started contributing to those investigations in a meaningful way, it’s something I took very seriously and try to impart on to everyone else in the unit.” While the Ballistics Unit is part of Victoria Police and aims to help detectives in their investigations, Sen Sgt Farrar said the unit’s highest allegiance is to the facts. “Impartiality is a very big part of our game,” he said. “Whenever we go to a shooting scene, we receive a briefing on what is understood to have taken place. “But we are really about determining what took place in a shooting event based on the available evidence, so it’s not uncommon to establish that what an investigator thought may have taken place, didn’t actually take place. “Applying a scientific approach helps us to remove the bias, discount people’s theories, look at the evidence, understand what it is telling us and report on that.” Their dogged pursuit for the truth carries into the court when they are called to give evidence. “While we might be called by the prosecution, we’re on neither side,” Sen Sgt Farrar said. “At the end of the day, we’re not there to help the prosecution or the defence, we’re there to assist the court. “And that’s something that’s impressed upon our staff right from the beginning.” Images In their sights 01 Sgt Andrew Nisbet examines two shotgun shells on a comparison microscope. 02 Ldg Sen Const Christian Tomming fires into a water tank in order to collect undamaged bullets for comparison purposes. 03 Sen Sgt Stephen Farrar and Ldg Sen Const Tony Ruiz inspect a sawn-off shotgun. 04 Sen Const Lisa Pearson and Ldg Sen Const Steve Batten prepare seized firearms for destruction. Editorial and photography: Jesse Wray-McCann
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DETECTION
DOGS They’re an elite team renowned for their specialised tools like remotecontrolled robots, diagnostic equipment and armoured protective suits. But the Bomb Response Unit’s (BRU) latest ground-breaking pieces of equipment don’t have robotic arms or the ability to see through solid objects — they have four legs, coats of fur and, most importantly, unrivalled noses for explosives.
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In March this year, two Belgian Malinois, Bomber and Bronx, joined the ranks of Victoria Police’s BRU as Explosive Detection Dogs (EDDs). Like any person that wears the Victoria Police uniform, they have one working purpose — to keep Victorians safe. And they do that by providing the BRU with an improved state-wide rapid response capability.
“We’ve imprinted the dogs with a wide range of odours commonly associated with commercial, pyrotechnic or homemade explosives,” A/Sen Sgt Wake said. “This means we can accurately detect a greater range of the most common ingredients than ever before and overcome methods used to try and conceal explosives.
As Acting Senior Sergeant Christian Wake explained, the dogs are the BRU’s fastest tool when it comes to assessing suspicious packages or potential explosives.
“When they’re working in the field, our dogs have the potential to wear a protective harness with a camera attached so we can see everything they see from our command post.”
“The dogs have the ability to operate off-lead, so they can approach a suspicious item in a cordoned area without a handler and provide initial assessments within minutes of arriving at a scene,” A/Sen Sgt Wake said.
The operation and training model used for the BRU’s EDDs is the same as that used by the Australian Defence Force Special Forces teams. Victoria Police is also the first police jurisdiction in Australia to embed EDDs within a bomb response unit, with the dogs’ first deployment in March marking the finish line of a comprehensive 10-year research, testing, evaluation and training process.
“They’re part of the BRU’s Bomb Assessment Team, which provides a rapid response to Melbourne’s CBD during peak times, but they are also available 24/7 to support frontline police and investigative units across the state for anything that might arise, or for planned operations like search warrants.” Already, Bomber and Bronx are cutting down the time it takes for the BRU to resolve incidents.
Leading Senior Constable Andrew* has worked for Victoria Police for 20 years, 16 of which have been with the BRU as a bomb technician. He’s now the primary handler for three-year-old Bomber. “Working with the dogs isn’t like anything else I’ve done with Victoria Police,” he said. “I’ve had a few deployments with Bomber already and he’s meeting every expectation. It’s quite an intricate process. You work with the dog and look for changes in their body language, some will be subtle, and some are really clear. If they have isolated a target odour, they won’t break from that odour until we instruct them to.”
“He’s transitioned into the team really well and everyone just sees him as another operator in the team,” he said.
With one of the EDDs responding to the call-out and searching the suspect vehicle, the BRU was able to determine that the threat was a hoax and the car was cleared within an hour. It was a job that would normally take hours to resolve.
“Of course, the dogs are very well looked after. While they’re working dogs, we need to really care for them. They're an extremely expensive asset for Victoria Police and are treated as such.”
“The BRU’s other procedures, such as deploying robots, take a significant amount of time due to obstacles that might be present like stairs and doors. Now, our EDDs can deploy at any scene, commence detection and can give us an almost instant indication as to if explosives are present,” A/Sen Sgt Wake said.
Superintendent Peter Ward said the introduction of the EDDs to the BRU will greatly assist in keeping Victorians safe. “It’s exciting that Victoria Police is at the cuttingedge of the use of EDDs,” Supt Ward said. “The integration will enhance response times and contribute to a reduction in the time taken to resolve incidents.
“If the indication is given, then we roll out all the equipment and go through our procedures. The EDD handlers are also trained bomb technicians and this allows the BRU response to be more agile and flexible. The ability to assess more rapidly means we can begin re-opening the scene to the public or police.”
“Most Victorians will probably never get to see these dogs in action, but rest assured they’re out there with the members of the BRU around the clock, working in potentially dangerous situations to protect all of us from harm. We’re lucky to have them.”
That speed and flexibility is particularly important in the counter terrorism environment, which can see the BRU operating in busy or crowded locations, like sport stadiums or train stations.
While the dogs act fast, none of the BRU’s trademark methodical, careful and accurate operational nature has been lost, nor has the advanced technology.
While Bomber and Bronx undertook a thorough training regime, so too did the bomb technicians who handle them.
When working with explosives, trust is everything and Ldg Sen Const Andrew said he and his BRU colleagues have enormous trust in their four-legged teammates.
Earlier this year, the emergency department of a major Melbourne hospital was forced to close after a threat was received indicating a bomb was in a car parked outside.
“It’s been suggested to us that to close and cordon off a part of the CBD can cost millions per hour, so if long shutdowns or delays can be avoided and we can still make clear assessments and keep people safe, that’s a good thing,” A/Sen Sgt Wake said.
Bomber and Bronx’s deployment with the BRU means the unit takes over the explosive detection capability from Victoria Police’s Dog Squad, which has been responsible for explosives detection since the 1980s. The shift will allow the Dog Squad to enhance other detection capabilities such as locating narcotics and firearms.
“Out of a shortlist of more than 30 dogs, Bomber and Bronx were the only ones to graduate,” A/Sen Sgt Wake said. “And they have been trained to work in a huge range of environments that can challenge their senses — everything from boats at sea and aeroplanes in the air, to shopping centres with escalators and elevators.”
Images Dogs on duty Belgian Malinois Bomber and Bronx are now working with the Victoria Police Bomb Response Unit as Explosives Detection Dogs. The pair complements the unit's array of high-tech gadgets and expert bomb technicians. Editorial: Grant Condon Photography: Scott McNaughton
*Last name removed for security reasons
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Upholding
seniors rights
When Peter* and Lucy’s* daughter Mary* and her adult children showed up at their front door needing a place to stay for a few weeks, the couple couldn’t have imagined that 12 months later they would be getting police involved to reclaim their house.
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Wanting to help their daughter and grandchildren, the couple agreed to let them stay on a short-term arrangement while Mary looked for a rental property.
FVSNs are issued on the spot to protect the affected family members from future violence from the respondent and have conditions similar to a Family Violence Intervention Order.
“Between support agencies, financial institutions and police, there were already a lot of initiatives in place to address financial elder abuse,” Det Sen Sgt Russell said.
However, once they moved in, it soon became clear that Mary and her children were making no attempts to find alternate accommodation.
In line with these conditions, Mary and her adult children were removed from the premises and provided with local emergency accommodation.
Over the next 12 months, the situation for Lucy and Peter gradually became harder to deal with.
Lucy and Peter had initially been reluctant to involve police, however a partnership developed between Senior Rights Victoria and Victoria Police under the financial elder abuse trial program meant that Lucy and Peter felt empowered to act.
“While we already engaged with these local support agencies and banks regularly on cases, there was no official structure in place to bring all these parties to the one table to collaborate effectively to best support older Victorians.
Mary’s belongings were now starting to take over the house and it became apparent she and her children had no plans to leave or make any financial contributions. Adding to the stressful situation for the older couple, Mary also became increasingly verbally abusive towards Lucy and Peter. Needing help to know their rights and options to try and get Mary and her children to move out, Lucy and Peter sought advice from Senior Rights Victoria, a support agency for older people, about the situation. After this discussion, Mary was informed she had no right to reside at the house, and that she and her children should vacate. This inflamed Mary and she hurled abuse at Lucy and Peter, who became afraid for their safety. They were unable to drive to the police station because their car was blocked by Mary’s belongings. Instead, they rang the support agency again and, through an arrangement established under the Victoria Police-led financial elder abuse trial program, detectives from the local Family Violence Investigation Unit (FVIU) were contacted on the couple’s behalf. Detectives attended the house and served Family Violence Safety Notices (FVSNs) on Mary and her children.
“Through the trial program, we have developed structured channels of communication between our team, the banks and support agencies in our area, meaning we can be alerted to cases in ways we couldn’t before.
The trial, established in response to a recommendation from the Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence, was designed to reduce the rates of financial elder abuse by increasing connections between police, financial institutions and support agencies.
“So rather than police responding once a serious offence has already happened, we are able to proactively be involved in cases from the early stages and work with other support agencies for early intervention, with the aim of stopping the situation from escalating.”
Under the trial, if the financial institutions and support agencies either suspected or were dealing with cases of financial elder abuse and had the affected family member’s consent, they could link in with police to provide further options for action. Police could also liaise directly with support agencies to conduct welfare checks if they suspected elder abuse was occurring.
Under the trial, local working groups have also been set up in the five areas, bringing together a Police Service Area's (PSA) support agencies, financial institutions and FVIUs for regular meetings.
Financial elder abuse is defined as any fraudulent, illegal, deceptive or otherwise improper activity or processes done by a person for their own financial gain to the detriment of an older person. It is the most common type of abuse faced by older Australians. Reports show financial abuse impacts about six per cent of people over the age of 65, however, the true rate of cases is believed to be much higher because cases are quite often not reported. In April 2020, the trial was introduced and dedicated financial elder abuse teams were implemented at five FVIUs: Bendigo, Morwell, Mornington, Box Hill and Croydon. Family Violence Command Senior Sergeant Alasdair Gall said cases like Lucy and Peter’s highlighted the importance of improving the police response to, and understanding of, financial elder abuse. “Financial elder abuse is often underreported because there is a level of shame and embarrassment associated with it due to it being a family member or trusted person doing the offending,” Sen Sgt Gall said. “Victims are also hesitant to involve police out of fear of getting their family member in trouble. “Through the trial, we are able to provide support agencies and banks with more accurate information about the police options available to victims, which like in Lucy and Peter’s case, don’t always involve court orders or criminal charges.” Box Hill FVIU Detective Senior Sergeant Matt Russell said the trial provided more structure in addressing abuse, making it easier for support agencies to connect cases like Lucy and Peter’s to police.
“The working groups allows us to share knowledge and understanding of what financial elder abuse looks like in our local area,” Det Sen Sgt Russell said. “The groups have been one of the most successful parts of the program for our team because they’ve helped us strengthen our connections with these agencies and institutions and allowed us to give them a deeper understanding of what we can offer.” To date, the trial has resulted in more than 50 cases of financial elder abuse being referred to participating FVIUs, with 18 of those cases leading to ongoing investigations into further offences. Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic reducing engagement with the trial, the program was recently extended for a further 14 months. Initially due to end in April 2021, the trial will now run until 30 June 2022, when it will be evaluated to determine if it becomes a permanent program across the whole state. *Names have been changed.
Image Streamlined support Det Sen Const Brendan Cunningham and Det Sen Const Kris Lucic are part of the Box Hill FVIU, one of five teams involved in the financial elder abuse trial, which aims to provide more streamlined support to victims by bringing police, financial institutions and support agencies together. Editorial and photography: Danielle Ford
Every year, 15 June marks World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. Elder abuse is estimated to affect about one in 20 older people and can take various forms, ranging from physical and sexual assault to neglect, psychological and financial mistreatment. World Elder Abuse Awareness Day seeks to raise awareness about the issue.
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Cadet Careers If you were to work for Victoria Police for more than 500 years, what might your career look like? The 13 men in this photo are a great example, having earlier this year gathered together to celebrate 45 years since they first joined Victoria Police as cadets. Their more than 500 years of collective experience is almost as diverse as the organisation itself. 1. Richard Lodder
4. David Beare
6. Paul Allinson
Sergeant – Fingerprint Sciences Group
Forensic Officer, former Senior Constable at Victoria Police and Sergeant at Queensland Police Service
Inspector – Operational Communications
Main work areas/units: Fingerprint Sciences Group Highlights: Running the Crime Scene Officers Course from 2009-2012, performing a review of the Victoria Police Emergency Response Guide, serving as Victoria Police Liaison at the State Emergency Control Centre, and a 2014 deployment to the Netherlands for disaster victim identification following the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 over Ukraine. What do you like about the job? I enjoy working in this area where I feel we can make a difference by solving crimes and identifying deceased persons.
2. Craig Rhodes Detective Senior Sergeant – Fraud & Extortion Squad Main work areas/units: General duties and Crime Investigation Unit (CIU) duties, CompStat, Project AIM and various Crime Command squads. Highlight: Just catching crooks. It’s a great feeling to get that guilty plea after an investigation. What do you like about the job? The mateship. No matter where you go, you have always got a friend to help you out, and the friendship lasts a lifetime.
3. Mark Doney Inspector – State Business Continuity Manager Main work areas/units: General duties in metropolitan and rural locations, Operational Safety and Tactics Training instructor, Sergeant Qualifying Program facilitator, Special Operations Group (SOG), and State Emergencies and Support Command. Highlight: Working in a high-performance team such as the SOG and working with our frontline people, who have the hardest and most important job to do. What do you like about the job? The variety of areas that you can work in, skills you can gain and people you can meet. 28
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Main Work areas/units: Mostly in Fingerprint Branch Melbourne and Fingerprint Bureau in Queensland (eight years). Highlight: Having identified thousands of criminals and deceased persons over many decades using my fingerprint expertise. Main highlight was going to the Bali bombings in 2002 as part of an Australian Federal Police (AFP) Disaster Victim Identification Team and working with identification experts from around the western world. This was the most challenging, rewarding and humbling work I have done, bringing closure to the victims’ families worldwide. What do you like about the job? The knowledge of having a secure job throughout five decades. The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic was a classic example of the security that being an essential services worker provides, while many in the community were not so fortunate.
5. Stephen Dennis
Main work areas/units: General duties and CIU, State Crime Squads, Detective Training School, North West Metro Region, Capability Department and State Emergency and Security Command. Highlights: Opportunity to lead and develop capability in our people in frontline and formal training and development settings. Being part of an organisation whose people — like no other arm of government — rise to challenges, adapt, reshape, lead and deliver community safety 24/7, 365 days a year. What do you like about the job? Connection with community, making a difference, the diversity of its people and the diversity of career options.
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Detective Inspector – Professional Standards Command Investigations Division Main work areas/units: General duties and CIU, Local Area Commander at Stonnington and Port Phillip, Santiago Task Force, child exploitation task forces and Missing Persons. Highlights: Various, high-profile crime squads in Crime Command. Established the Joint Anti-Child Exploitation Team in Victoria. The first extradition of an offender who had fled Australia after committing serious historic offences in Victoria. The offender was extradited from Bosnia, which had no extradition treaty with Australia in 2019. What do you like about the job? Working with committed colleagues focused on achieving key goals to enhance community safety. Significant personal development and diverse career opportunities.
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7. Geoff Kedge
9. Paul Cliffe
11. Peter Francis
Superintendent – Professional Standards Command
Senior Sergeant – Gisborne Police Station
Senior Sergeant – D24 Police Communications
Main work areas/units: Russell Street Crime Car Squad, Flemington, Broadmeadows and Gisborne.
Main work areas/units: Mount Waverley, Berwick, Cobram and D24 Police Communications.
Highlights: 2006 international deployment to the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands on secondment with the AFP. I also worked with the AFP at the Melbourne Airport between 2009-2011, which was a very interesting experience.
Highlights: Graduating from the Victoria Police Academy in 1978, achieving promotion through the ranks, completing the search and rescue course and sub-officers course, obtaining an Advanced Diploma and receiving the Victoria Police Service Medal and National Police Service Medal.
Main work areas/units: General duties and CIU, Professional Standards Command, and management roles at the Force Response Unit, North West Metro Division 4 and Eastern Division 5 (ED5). Highlight: Working as the Divisional Superintendent in ED5 for the Baw Baw, Latrobe and Bass Coast areas was one of my favourite and most memorable times in my career because I was working in a spectacularly beautiful part of Victoria, from Philip Island to Wilsons Prom and into the mountain area of Mt Baw Baw and Walhalla.
What do you like about the job? The camaraderie and the unpredictability of every day’s work.
10. Alan Paxton
What do you like about the job? The ability to move around and experience a variety of roles. The average time I have spent in any role is about four years before seeking a new challenge.
Detective Senior Sergeant – Southern Metro Division 4 Divisional Response Unit
8. Rod Hardy
Highlight: Leading the investigation of the kidnapping of three-week-old Montana Barbaro at Deer Park in 2004. A husband and wife decided they wanted a baby, so they sprayed Montana’s mum in the face with capsicum spray and took the child from her car. Recovering Montana safe and well and arresting the offenders within 48 hours brought much relief to her family and the community and a great sense of satisfaction.
Sergeant – Crime Intelligence Group Main work areas/units: Broadmeadows, Coburg, Kyneton, Prosecutions, Crime Intelligence Group. Highlight: Worked at the City of Westminster, London as the Operations Manager of the City Guardian service. Head of Regional Intelligence Units United Kingdom South with the National Criminal Intelligence Service in the UK. What do you like about the job? I cannot express how much I love this job. It has been an absolutely fantastic 45 years full of diversity and change. I have never been bored and I’ve had a lot of fun, mixed with serious emotion and opportunities.
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Main work areas/units: Various CIUs, Special Response Squad, Tactical Response Squad and Purana Taskforce.
What do you like about the job? I am always confident our people, being the team (and family) we are, will work together and always overcome whatever is thrown at us. That sense of unity and belonging is unique.
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What do you like about the job? How Victoria Police has developed over the years from very basic facilities, equipment and resources in the late 1970s and 1980s to now providing some of the best and most current equipment, police stations, offices and vehicles. I also like the personalities I’ve worked with over the years and the experiences I’ve shared with them. I’m feeling so old now that I have trouble remembering many of those experiences.
12. Paul McAlpine Senior Sergeant – Discipline Inquiry Office Main work areas/units: Sunshine, Maidstone, Prosecutions, Discipline Advisory Unit, Discipline Inquiry Office. Highlights: 20 years of operational policing and 35 years of diverse opportunities. Working with people smarter than me. Creating systems 20 years ago that are still being used today to reduce drink driving defences used in court. Working in a field that makes a real difference to the reputation and integrity of the entire organisation. What do you like about the job? Employment security, diverse career options and the constant challenges that require problem solving and keep me on my toes.
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13. Doug Symons Leading Senior Constable – Whitehorse Crime Scene Services
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Main work areas/units: General duties, Crime Scene Services and the Victoria Police Band. Highlights: Playing with the Victoria Police Band at the MCG in front of more than 30,000 people for the Victoria Miltary Tattoos for 1983, 1984 and 1985. Just after graduating, I was presented with the Gold Duke Of Edinburgh Award by Prince Phillip himself. What do you like about the job? Stability, camaraderie, different jobs happening all the time, different career options and being able to move around and experience varying situations at the drop of a hat. Meeting new people all the time. Being able to help junior members where possible.
Editorial: Jesse Wray-McCann
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Help at hand A 1000-kilometre trek across Victoria was the starting point for police veterans to be provided with much needed support.
The aim of the 2018 Head to Head Walk was to increase awareness and raise funds to improve the mental health of police veterans. The result was Police Veterans Victoria, a notfor-profit organisation that is making in-roads by providing support and counselling for police veterans and their families experiencing mental health issues.
One of the strengths of Police Veterans Victoria is the 62 veteran peer support officers who are themselves police veterans, as is the executive officer, David McGowan. “There has always been a strong ethos within Victoria Police that we look after our own, which was the beginnings of Police Legacy and the Retired Peer Support Officers. But what about the many police who leave well before retirement, and are carrying the weight of their experiences? This organisation is here to support them,” Mr McGowan said. Police Veterans Victoria has already made progress, with more than 200 police veterans reaching out for support in their first 12 months of operation.
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“The feedback from veterans has been one of almost relief that there is someone they can speak to who understands what they are going through. And they do understand, because they’ve had similar experiences during their own careers,” Mr McGowan said. Clinical advisor and program co-ordinator Rebecca Lynch said they received several calls following the deaths of Leading Senior Constable Lynette Taylor, Senior Constable Kevin King, Constable Josh Prestney and Constable Glen Humphris, who were killed by a truck on the Eastern Freeway in Kew in April 2020. “One veteran in particular left a voice message and I could hear the deep sadness in his voice,” Ms Lynch said. “I returned his call and sent a text message but didn’t receive an answer. I was determined to get hold of him because I knew if he had picked up the phone once, surely, he could do it again. And he did. “He was clearly very deeply affected by the tragedy and very troubled. In the face of such grief I didn’t know what to say, but we bumbled our way through. Towards the end of our conversation he said ‘you have no idea what this call has meant to me’.”
Get in contact Visit: policeveteransvic.org.au Email: contact@policeveteransvic.org.au Call: 0436 854 858
Money raised by Police Veterans Victoria is used to maintain and improve their essential support services. This includes training courses for their dedicated staff and volunteers, and resource material. But more help is needed to achieve Mr McGowan’s ambitious vision of Police Veterans Victoria providing a service where veterans feel a sense of belonging and where they can receive benefits similar to what defence veterans receive. “Every dollar we raise is accounted for and invested in building sustainable benefits for our veterans and their families. There is no more noble cause than to help those in need,” he said. To make a donation to Police Veterans Victoria, visit the policeveteransvic.org.au website.
Image Support service Police Veterans Victoria executive officer David McGowan, veteran peer support officer John Stubbs and clinical advisor and program co-ordinator Rebecca Lynch. Editorial: Nadine Lyford Photography: Grant Condon
IN BRIEF police.vic.gov.au/news
PROACTIVE POLICING STORIES
LONIGAN NAME LIVES ON
RECRUIT ROLLOUT FINISHES
A new custody area at Glen Waverley Police Station has not only brought greater safety for staff, it now also honours an officer who lost his life in the line of duty.
The biggest recruitment drive in Victoria Police’s history has come to an end. In May, the final deployment of 2729 new officers as funded through the State Government’s Community Safety Statement was announced, with 396 new police to begin work across the state over the next 12 months. The Hobsons Bay, Maribyrnong, Wyndham, Casey, Cardinia, Greater Dandenong, Yarra Ranges, Knox and Ballarat police service areas shared the largest portion of the latest deployment, while Victoria Police’s specialist commands, such as Transit and Public Safety and Intelligence and Covert Support Command, will receive 167 police. The Professional Standards Command will dedicate 11 new staff to investigating Victoria Police employees who are perpetrators of family violence and providing support to complainants and victims, while six police will be tasked to tackling cybercrime in Victoria Police’s Crime Command. The rollout completes the Community Safety Statement allocation, which resulted in 825 officers assigned across the state in 2018 and an additional 720 deployed in 2019. Last year, 788 police were deployed. Victoria Police has used its Staff Allocation Model (SAM) in recent years to allocate new resources, taking into account factors such as calls for assistance, reported crime, event management and the time required to provide these services. “Since 2018, our additional police have been deployed to the areas of greatest need using the SAM, allowing us to put more police out on patrol, responding where and when needed in the community, and in dedicated areas such as family violence, transit safety, highway patrol, and sexual offences and child abuse teams,” Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said. While the Community Safety Statement allocation has been filled, Victoria Police is still actively recruiting police and Protective Services Officers. For more information, visit police.vic.gov.au/careers
In March, a ceremony was held to officially announce the new name of the facility as the Constable Thomas Lonigan Custody Centre. Const Lonigan was one of three police officers murdered by Ned Kelly and his gang at Stringybark Creek in 1878. Glen Waverley Senior Sergeant Greg Dean said there was a direct connection to the fallen officer at the station, with Const Lonigan's great, great grandson veteran Sergeant Erin Tunstall having worked there for more than 20 years before retiring in July last year. “We really wanted to honour the ultimate sacrifice Const Lonigan made but also honour and celebrate the career of veteran Sgt Tunstall, as well as the Lonigan family,” Sen Sgt Dean said. Mr Tunstall and members of his family attended the ceremony, along with Assistant Commissioner Glenn Weir, other members of Eastern Region command and Neil Soullier, Chief Executive Officer of the Victoria Police Blue Ribbon Foundation. The Victoria Police Blue Ribbon Foundation supported the naming dedication by donating a plaque to display outside the custody area entrance, as well as a framed copy for the Tunstall family.
CHILDCARE FOR COURT A connection between a Victoria Police Family Violence Investigation Unit (FVIU) and a family violence charity has resulted in a childcare facility being established at Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court.
and Tom O’Loughlin, it was identified that there were no child-minding facilities in any court in Victoria to assist those impacted by family violence,” Bayside FVIU Detective Senior Sergeant David Quirk said.
The initiative came about after Kathy Kaplan OAM, founder and president of Impact, an entirely volunteer-run charity committed to making a difference to survivors of family violence in Victoria, approached the Bayside FVIU about how to best use money raised by the charity.
“Because of this, the affected family members had to rely on the goodwill of relatives, friends and, at times, neighbours to assist with minding their children when attending court.
“During a meeting between Ms Kaplan and detective sergeants Richard Carnegie
“This process could create additional trauma for survivors of family violence and their children.”
Ms Kaplan and detective sergeants Carnegie and O’Loughlin then engaged the services of women and children’s support network Emerge to oversee the implementation of the project. “There are now two qualified childcare workers at the Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court every Thursday, allowing women to attend court for family violence matters without needing to stress about finding someone to care for their children,” Det Sen Sgt Quirk said.
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YOU’RE MORE SUITED THAN YOU MIGHT THINK NOW RECRUITING POLICE CAREERS
