Hello everyone!
I've never posted here before but I've been following OzBargain community for some time now. Love those deals!
A bit about myself:
I am a male.
I am a Senior Constable of Victoria Police.
I work in the Melbourne region. I've worked pretty much all areas in Melbourne. Never worked in the country.
I work in the Uniform branch now but I've worked in many areas and it won't take long for me to try and move again. I like diversity.
Please understand that whatever I will reply here, represents my views/opinions only and not Victoria Police. Also, this is highly frowned upon by Victoria Police and they will probably want/try to sack me. I can't post anything to identify me.
Ok, if you have any questions, fire away!
EDIT 1
I didn't expect to have so many questions. It's almost 1AM and I need to go to sleep.
I'll answer more questions tomorrow.
EDIT 2
I went through some of my answers and I made a lot of spelling or wrong words/sentences. I'm sorry for that, I didn't proofread. There are a lot of questions I'm trying to answer. Just read between the lines and get the idea. I'm trying to get quantity instead of quality.
Edit 3
I want to touch upon something that pops up a lot.
- A lot with what Victoria Police does it is dictated by the media. Whatever makes headlines, that's where the Victoria Police's resources gets directed. Media is a huge chaser of big news of small things and that's what we focus on and not on the major problems.
- I believe that we are modelled after the community expectations. Whatever the community thought or desired (through media), Victoria Police complied. That goes from Apex to pursuits to drug driving and investigations.
Word of caution be careful what you ask for, you might just get it. I'm afraid we will end up more like USA where we will have a very large incarceration rate (for instant gratification) with a very high recidivist rate whilst the problem is still there. We seem to want revenge not solutions.
Edit 4
The questions popped up a bit and I didn't give a full explanation to the stress levels.
There is lots of stress in this job. Most of the stress comes from the police station/unit itself. Victoria Police is extremely political. Who likes you or who you're friends with has a lot more to do with the progress of your career than how good you are at your job. "Management by intimidation" is common.
Some of our colleagues embarrass us. We don't have an input into who gets hired. Everyone knows somebody (or more than one) who is reckless, immature, lazy, dishonest, or just dumb. When these people are allowed to keep being cops is when our image suffers. Reporting is not usually an option as it can backfire. You can't report anonymously.
Edit 5 - and final
It has passed more than 24 hours since the start of this thread. For me, it's time to end it.
Thank you everyone for the questions. I've had a blast and never thought it would get so much attention. I hope this as given you a little bit more understanding of what's behind the scenes.
I know a lot more questions are out there, just be a bit daring and ask the copper you see next time in the shopping centre about some of these questions. Questions like traffic, mental health, or anything of interest. You might get a good answer or not. You might get a weird face or a smile. Who knows, never know until you try it.
Say hello to us when you see us at Mecca's. You don't know it but sometimes, that is the nicest thing a member of the public said that day.
Lol apex