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ANGEL’S DOGGED DETERMINATION GETS TOP PRIZE Tails were wagging when police dog, Angel, picked up the Outstanding Canine Service Award at the 43rd National German Shepherd Dog Show and Trial at the State Dog Centre in Lyndhurst. In her six-year police career, Angel sunk her teeth into hundreds of cases and contributed to arresting and locating 113 people. She also assisted in 41 investigations where a scent picked up at a crime scene was used to solve a case.
OFFICERS EARN TOP ROTARY PRIZES Two of Benalla police’s finest were praised for their community work at the Benalla and Mansfield Rotary District Annual Conference in Wangaratta. Benalla Police Station’s youth resource officer Leading Senior Constable Paula Allen was awarded the Community Police Member of the Year, while Detective Leading Senior Constable Jenny Parker was runner-up. Ldg Sen Const Allen was recognised for her community work in Victoria’s north-east including countless community projects focused on youth engagement, education and sport. “I’m really passionate about my work,” she said.
Not only did Angel solve crime - like the time she sniffed out a key piece of evidence linked to dozens of armed robberies at service stations in the western suburbs - but she also saved lives.
“You become part of a family in a smaller community. I get to work with people who are equally passionate and motivated and want to achieve as much as I do.”
The Dog Squad’s Leading Senior Constable Cail Tuckerman, Angel’s handler, said it took them only five minutes to find an elderly man who had gone missing from his nursing home.
PSOs TRANSITION TO POLICE OFFICERS
“We found him lying unconscious in thick undergrowth on the edge of a swift flowing creek at the bottom of a 10-metre ravine,” he said. “If it weren’t for Angel we probably wouldn’t have found him until the morning as it was too dangerous to search the area at night.” Angel retired this year due to a degenerative spinal injury and now enjoys the creature comforts of home with Sen Const Tuckerman and his family.
In a Victoria Police first, 26 protective services officers (PSOs) have been sworn in as police, graduating from the Victoria Police Academy in May. The PSOs, who have a minimum of 18 months’ experience, transitioned their careers following intense and comprehensive study over 17 weeks of the pilot Constable Qualifying Program (CQP). Designed specifically to provide the opportunity for Transit PSOs to become police, the program’s learning outcomes are the same as the standard 33-week foundation training, however, the delivery and assessments have been enhanced. Participants of the CQP completed assessments for a Diploma of Public Safety in Policing, including four weeks at dedicated training workplaces and a three-day practical assessment reflecting the core duties of a frontline police officer. Find out how you can become a PSO or police officer at policecareer.vic.gov.au on the internet.
ODD SPOT CORNER Sergeant Darren Brown
Sergeant Luke Holmes
CASTERTON POLICE STATION
SPRINGVALE POLICE STATION
“I was on bicycle patrol with a colleague in Kerang who had just completed the bike course. We were riding around a car park, following reports that school students had been causing mischief. My partner approached a group on his bike to ask them some questions and tried to jump the gutter onto the footpath. He failed to clear the gutter and hit a shopping trolley, which shot towards a car. Luckily, the car wasn’t damaged but my partner’s pride was hurt. It turned out to be a good ice breaker with the students.”
“I was on duty at the Caulfield Cup when I had to use the bathroom. I called out to the guy next door and asked if he could pass some toilet paper. He gave me the paper and also asked if I wanted something extra. He then held out a bag of speed. I left the cubicle and waited for him to come out. The look on his face was priceless when he opened the door. I located the drugs and arrested him.”
POLICE LIFE | WINTER 2015
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