New team player

Editorial: Roslyn Jaguar

Photography: Brendan McCarthy

And his new role at the Ballarat-based Police Assistance Line is proving the “perfect fit” for an officer who, until December last year, had spent almost the entirety of his policing career on the road.

For the past 21 years, Sgt Walker has been a stalwart of Victoria Police’s crucial one-person station network, serving the tiny communities of Minyip and Linton in Victoria’s west.

“I’ve basically been on-call to the community for the past 21 years,” Sgt Walker said.

“There’s no such thing as off-duty when you’re at a one-person station.

“It’s extremely rewarding – you’re part of the fabric of the town – but it does take its toll.”

So last year – amidst a global pandemic – Sgt Walker set about making the changes that would ensure his longevity as a police officer.

With his eyes on the future, he gained the qualifications and hands-on experience required to seek a promotion to the sergeant rank, despite recognising the challenges this path presented.

“I hadn’t seen many members getting promoted to sergeant after 30 years in the job,” Sgt Walker admitted.

“And I knew that my time at single-officer stations wasn’t good for the extensive knowledge bank needed to perform the role of a sergeant.”

But Sgt Walker’s dedication to succeed – the same dedication he had shown to his country communities – saw him secure a sergeant’s position within a year of turning his mind to the task.

He said his new role at the Police Assistance Line (PAL), Victoria Police’s hotline for reporting non-urgent crimes and events, was “completely different” from the frontline policing role he knew inside and out.

Now, Sgt Walker spends his time providing advice to civilian call-takers about reports they receive from the community.

And he said his extensive frontline policing knowledge and top-notch communication skills had set him up for success in his career beyond the divisional van.

“If the job doesn’t fit the criteria of the types of reports PAL is able to take, the call-takers come to us for advice about what to do next,” he said.

“I’m not undertaking investigations, I’m not going home stressed or carrying that residual worry about people after you’ve been to jobs.

“Members at other single-officer stations who I’ve gotten to know over the years have already noticed a difference in me.”

Remarkably, it’s now been half a century since Sgt Walker set his sights on a career in policing, after an encounter with a police officer in his hometown of St Arnaud.

“I was four when a policeman let me try on his old white hat in the local pub,” he recalls.

Sgt Walker joined the Victoria Police Academy in 1985, and after graduating spent the first seven years of his policing career in the city in a variety of locations and roles – including Collingwood, St Kilda Road, D24 and the Protective Security Group.

In 1992, after his father hurt his back in a farm accident, Sgt Walker headed to the bush and took a position at Donald Police Station.

“It wasn’t necessarily my intention to return to country policing, but I always said that you can take the boy from the bush, but you can’t take the love of the bush from the boy,” he said.

It was during his six-year tenure at Donald that Sgt Walker became heavily involved in the local community – he was a CFA volunteer, a school councillor, played football and cricket and ran bike education for all the local children.

Since then, his community service has never wavered.

Over the years, Sgt Walker has been a football umpire, golfer, lawn bowler, member of the swimming pool committee, and fundraiser for local health services, along with his continued involvement with local school boards.

He has clocked up 37 years as an active CFA member, was chosen to take part in the Sydney Olympics torch relay and was recognised as Golden Plains Shire Citizen of the Year in 2019.