CAREER IN FOCUS
SENIOR CONSTABLE YONG LIM From the Korean Army to hospitality studies and investigating the sex industry, the only Korean-speaking police officer at Victoria Police shares his story with Police Life. The Sex Industry Coordination Unit’s (SICU) Senior Constable Yong Lim joined policing as a 37-year old in January 2005. “I came to Australia from Korea after serving in the army,” he said. “I went to Korea to look for a job, after deferring my PhD course. However, there was limited work in hospitality in Korea. One day, I went to a hotel to submit a job application and met the general manager, who advised me to come back to Australia and continue the course.”
responses from each woman that sounded rehearsed, he became suspicious of them and the driver. He completed an information report for the Australian Federal Police (AFP). This small act, which could easily have been overlooked by anyone else, initiated a 12-month gig with the AFP’s Human Trafficking Team, where he became a critical asset for human trafficking investigations.
“A lot of students won’t report crime as they think it might affect their visa,” he said.
He had a major role in smashing a sex worker trafficking syndicate that had been running for 10 years and was the start of a more extensive career in sex industry enforcement.
Sen Const Lim is known to have a dictionary always at his fingertips, teaching himself new words and phrases every day.
On his return to Victoria Police, he joined the SICU where he checks licensed and illegal brothels to identify signs of human trafficking.
Sen Const Lim studied at Victoria University and worked as a part-time kitchen hand at a nursing home, before seeing an advertisement encouraging multicultural people to join Victoria Police.
“Our work is very victim-oriented,” Sen Const Lim said.
“English was my second language and the advertisement of Victoria Police was very appealing to me.
“A lot of women in the licensed and illegal sex industry are from many Asian countries. I visit them and build relationships and make sure they know that if they need anything, if they are being treated unfairly or exploited, that we can help.”
“I put my application in and met with a couple of police and other employees, who provided invaluable information about Victoria Police and the recruitment process. Those people later supported me at my graduation from the Victoria Police Academy.” Starting with a year in Transit, he moved to Melbourne East Police Station where he remained until 2013. “That’s where I started to get into local street policing,” Sen Const Lim said. It was also where he got a taste of human trafficking investigation in the sex industry. While on duty, Sen Const Lim intercepted a car with a number of young Korean women inside. After asking a few questions and getting similar
While the team regularly trains police across Victoria about the signs of human trafficking, they did their first presentation to a group of international students at La Trobe University recently.
“Not only do we investigate and arrest offenders, but our focus is to look after the welfare of victims.
A recent operation conducted by the unit involved the team visiting the majority of legal brothels in Victoria to see how they operate and check on workers’ welfare. “After the operation one girl contacted me because the brothel she was working at was in a filthy condition; there was a dirty and mouldy bathroom, dusty ceiling fans and their towels were not cleaned properly,” Sen Const Lim said. “We went out there and spoke to the brothel manager and had them clean it up. We then checked a few weeks later too.”
“We want to build up trust, as a lot of students come from countries where they don’t trust police and might fall victim to exploitation.”
He is also constantly scouring the internet for illegal activity, often finding illegal sexual services being provided from massage businesses, homes, apartments and other outlets, and recently detected the illegal transfer of funds to other countries. “The sex industry is so huge and it is possibly connected to crime issues like drugs, illegal prostitution, money laundering, human trafficking and exploitation,” Sen Const Lim said. SICU manager Senior Sergeant Marilynn Ross said Sen Const Lim was invaluable to the team. “He’s the voice of SICU,” she said. “He’s able to speak and read Korean and identify criminal acts that we can’t see.” One instance was identifying a Korean website that provided details of how to get a fraudulent Australian visa application. Sen Const Lim forwarded the details to the appropriate area for their investigation. “Sen Const Lim has managed to get people who were being exploited out of the sex industry,” Sen Sgt Ross said. “He’s very caring and passionate about making a difference.”
Editorial and Photography: Maria Carnovale 26
POLICE LIFE | SPRING 2016