TRAFFIC policing comes with a unique skill set.
You have to be personable, professional, persistent, and able to hand out a ticket to someone who’ll tell you to go find what they consider to be the “real crooks.”And, you have to deal with some of the worst scenes of carnage - death of men, women and children on our roads.
The Bendigo traffic management unit is a tight-knit group of 18 - 16 men, one woman and one office assistant.
Every day they take to the roads in search of speedsters, drinkers and hoons. They’ll hand out a ticket to somebody not wearing a seatbelt, and an hour later attend a fatal accident in which a motorist was unrestrained.
They cop both praise and flak for Bendigo’s title as the Hoon Capital, but as they see it, those speeding could kill your child on the road next week.
The man in charge is Senior Sergeant Ryan Irwin, and he doesn’t mince words when asked how he feels about his team’s attitude to hoons.
“Really good,” he said.
“We want the public to know we’re ruthless in our zero tolerance approach and we hope it sends a message to people who might otherwise choose to drive ridiculously.”For the TMU, attending serious accidents is simply part and parcel of the gig.
Sometimes they are lucky and a motorist will walk away unscathed. Other times they are there as someone takes their final breath.
“I dont think you get used to it,” Senior Sergeant Irwin said.
“I think you just learn to develop the coping mechanisms, and in some cases the coping mechanisms fall down, but you learn the ways to deal with it.”Like all police, TMU officers are offered support counselling if required, but hardened men and women can be reluctant to take it.
The move has led Senior Sergeant Irwin to make a submission for the service to become mandatory for his team.
“There is the potential for people to appear to be coping, but not be coping,” he admitted.
He hopes the roll out of regular compulsory debriefing sessions for all members will start soon.
Senior Sergeant Irwin said many drivers deserve a pat on the back.
“Sometimes we get a bit too pre-occupied talking about the number of drink-drivers we get, and don’t mention that we had to test 500 drivers to get those five,” he said.
“Or that we had to assess 1000 cars on the freeway to get 50 speedsters.
“We really need to say well done to the vast majority of drivers out there who drive appropriately and according to the law.”Now in his third year at the helm of what has become the state’s most successful hoon battleground, Senior Sergeant Irwin is adamant the war will continue.
”Country policing can be good, particularly in the TMU, because you can actually get out literally in the great outdoors and have a good day’s work in beautiful central Victoria,” he said.
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