Police Life: The Experts podcast - Season 2 Episode 7: Hunting high and low transcript

When the Air Wing helicopter gets called in for a car chase, it’s game over for the crooks. A Tactical Flight Officer takes us into the cockpit and real-life radio chatter as police track two stolen cars through Melbourne’s suburbs.

Listen to this episode and other episodes of Victoria Police's official podcast, Police Life: The Experts.

Transcript of Police Life: The Experts podcast, Season 2 Episode 7: Hunting high and low

Voiceover: You’re listening to Police Life: The Experts, a Victoria Police podcast shining a light on our people and their extraordinary skills.

[Sounds of Air Wing helicopter crew going through pre-flight checks with muffled in- flight audio conversation]

Voiceover: The Air Wing is the aviation unit of Victoria Police. It’s based in metro Melbourne but covers the entire state of Victoria.

The fleet consists of three Leonardo AW139 helicopters and a Beechcraft Super King Air 350ER aeroplane. The Air Wing, also known as PolAir, responds to more than 10,000 jobs a year.

[Sound of helicopter starting and taking off]

Voiceover: The night shift begins for Victoria Police’s Air Wing.

[Sound of helicopter ascending]

Voiceover: From the PolAir helicopter, the flight crew scans the arterials and freeways for anything unusual, until a call comes in. Two suspected stolen vehicles on the South Gippsland Freeway.

There is a powerful camera on the belly of the chopper. This forward-looking infrared – or FLIR – locks onto its targets. It sees the cars as two shapes of fast-moving light in the darkness. The heat signature, from the tyres, brakes and engines, shines bright. These cars have been driven hard and fast.

Audio from police radio
Sgt Gavin Devine: Which vehicle do you want us to stick with?

Voiceover: It’s 11:03pm and the high-stakes game is on again. If all goes to plan, police will use vehicle immobilising devices – also known as stop sticks – to put the brakes on these offenders. If possible, it will be done at low speed and that’s the art of what’s about to unfold between PolAir and the ground units.

Sgt Gavin Devine: My name's Gavin Devine, I'm a sergeant at the Victoria Police Air Wing. We are a great asset, but we can't do anything without the ground unit. So, you need good people on the ground because, really, they do all the hard work, you know. We can help with our observations, and we can interpret the manner of driving to try and suggest different points that may be good for stop sticks.

[Sweeping turn of chopper]

[Muffled in-flight audio of a tactical flight officer on radio]

Sgt Gavin Devine: We're called tactical flight officers, which is a role that's unique to a police officer in the aviation field. When we're dealing with refuellers at airfields, anything, we’re sort of part of a flight crew, because you have to have special exemptions to be on federal land.

Voiceover: While Air Wing members are classed as tactical flight officers, they are still police on the beat.

Sgt Gavin Devine: You can never predict what jobs are going to come over the radio. There's some days where I've come in to work and not much is happening. We’ll get in there and it’s "Alright, we need you guys, you have been deployed by Search and Rescue. You’re off to Mount Feathertop".

[Sounds of strong winds]

Sgt Gavin Devine: So you just never know. The last two nights we've had six actual physical car chases that we've followed on both of those nights. But pretty much any job that people call Triple Zero for, we will help out with if we’re up and about.

And if there's no calls, we're just like a normal div van, like, we'll go out patrolling. And we find a lot of the work ourselves, you know, because you look for anything out of the ordinary. So, we might find a car that's drawn our attention, it’s either it’s driving slowly or driving erratically, or it's parked in an unusual place, and we'll just watch it, you know, it's kind of like fishing – see what happens.

And then, sure enough "We might get this one checked out" and that's where the ground units come in. It's like "Yeah, hi it’s PolAir 30 or whatever, can you come have a look at a suspicious car for us?".

Voiceover: Tonight’s call for assistance has come from Cranbourne police in Melbourne’s south east.

Voiceover: Motor vehicle thefts in Victoria rose 24 per cent in the last year – a car is stolen every 23 minutes. Sergeant Cam Wallace is driving an unmarked vehicle on the tail of the crooks, following at a distance.

Sgt Cam Wallace: I'd been running a proactive crew, so we were just targeting volume crime, opportunistic thefts, and saw a car going a little bit fast down a street and probably within 10 seconds of us getting behind it, we knew it was on.

They didn't know we were there, but they were just moving and PolAir were up and about, did the call and luckily, given those comms. Their new aircraft technology is phenomenal and I've seen that change in my time from different FLIRs to the ones they’ve got now and once they get directions for the camera to turn on, they'll just pick up that fast-moving heat signature. It's either going to be me or the crooks, either way they're in the right area.

Voiceover: A video downlink allows Cam to see what the FLIR camera is picking up.

Sgt Cam Wallace: Once I'm watching that as well, given my comms, I can tell them "Yeah you're on the right target and we're good to go". So that was just one of those absolute fortuitous moments where they were airborne, headed our way, slaved their camera on and they'd picked us up probably within 30 seconds of us calling the job. There was low traffic that night, it was just – all the stars aligned for us, so it was good.

You've got your vehicles of interest and your opportunistics. This became both in one that it was an opportunistic pick-up, the fast mover, we get behind, yeah similar taillights, similar design to a volume theft from gyms where they’re stealing people's key fobs, breaking into the gyms and stealing cars, and then we noticed a second car ahead of it. And that's when we absolutely knew – we didn't have to get right up their clacker to get a rego. These are the two cars and we're on here.

Voiceover: Tonight’s job is part of Operation Trinity, which has been targeting burglars and car thieves every night since March 2023. Trinity runs from dusk until dawn across Melbourne and is easily Victoria Police’s most well-resourced operation. On top of standard patrols, there are another 70 police, including members of the Dog Squad, Public Order Response Team, and Air Wing, specifically tasked with preventing and responding to burglaries and car thefts each night.

Because of this intense focus, police arrested 673 burglars and car thieves almost 1550 times over a 12-month period. A further 7350 people have been processed for other offences detected by police working nightshift across the Trinity area of operations. The Air Wing has been a critical factor in the success of Operation Trinity.

Sgt Cam Wallace: It's your main stay and go-to, just because that aerial platform gives you so much oversight, but also their level of detachment and they’re really cool, calm and collected. Their comms are good, give great instructions, but they're not at the coalface, so they haven't got as much skin in the game in terms of white-line fever, tunnel vision, and they're the really good settling force from that point of view. I've got a lot of young troops out this way, so a calming voice with a bit of reason, sensibility, and some tactics is just massive for us.

Voiceover: And you may have guessed it by now, but Gavin is about as cool, calm and collected as they get.

[Muffled helicopter radio chatter]

Sgt Gavin Devine: We never meet these people. Some of the people, you know through policing experience, you know you've met them. But most of the time they're just voices on the other end of the radio.

[Muffled radio chatter]

Sgt Gavin Devine: And then the next two or three hours is, we create all this paperwork for people on the ground, and then we get to fly back, refuel and do it all again.

Voiceover: The Air Wing remains high above the action in these pursuits, but Gavin has been in Cam's place. He spent three years in the State Highway Patrol going after the worst of the worst on our roads. This was an era of high-speed pursuits. Until a review in 2015, officers had a broad discretion to engage in pursuits. The review focused on striking the right balance between protecting life and the need to arrest offenders.

Sgt Gavin Devine: I completely understand why they needed to change the pursuit policy when they did because, honestly, looking back, like it was, it got pretty wild. There was certainly times where I felt the need to talk to the driver and say, "Hey, we just need to calm down. Like, not only have we got one car driving like crazy, you know, we're making it worse".

Voiceover: Today, police only pursue a vehicle where there is a serious risk to public safety or health; a criminal offence has been committed, or is about to be committed, that involves serious injury to a person; or other means of tracking down the vehicle's occupants are not feasible. These changes created a career opportunity for Gavin Devine.

Sgt Gavin Devine: I saw the Air Wing as a step where I can still get these guys that are really posing the real significant risk. I've seen these offending vehicles driving like absolute loonies. So, yeah, it was a real driver to, like I said, be able to hold those people accountable for their actions.

Voiceover: What Gavin saw out on the road left its mark on him, especially the tragic, needless death of children.

Sgt Gavin Devine: This is going to be a tough one, I try not to get emotional because, yeah uh, how can I...? Because unfortunately it all stems around young children that had been run over. I did some… I put some... I really wanted to make a difference there... and I kind of used my position at highway patrol to really bring in some, I got some great funding through the TAC for this charity, which is all about awareness for, like, obviously, kids being run over. Because there was a lot of, there was a lot of kids that when they go away to holiday destinations, were so excited and fixated on the environment that road sense kind of went out the window. It was called the Little Blue Dinosaur Foundation.

Voiceover: The foundation was established in memory of Thomas McLaughlin, who was tragically killed in a pedestrian accident in 2014.

Sgt Gavin Devine: It was a family who was away on holiday and unfortunately their son just ran out. Being a metropolitan kid, he was used to the kerb and channels, so the step down between the transition between the footpath and the road. At this holiday destination, there was not that.

That was a real beautiful family that turned the loss of their son into something really, really productive and has made a huge difference right across New South Wales and I was able to bring that, bring that project and initiative to Victoria and we implemented it down here and it just made such a difference. Everyone needs to be aware that during these holiday periods you're going to have increased traffic, increased kids, and decreased awareness.

Voiceover: Like Gavin, Cam Wallace has a deep connection to the prevention of road trauma and catching crooks who can cause it. It’s a constant battle. Tonight’s offenders are well-known to police.

Sgt Cam Wallace: Some of them were wanted for armed robberies, high-volume crime, yeah, I think there's a carjacking suspect in there as well. But that's just one of many crews doing the same thing so to wipe them for a little while is great and gives the community a bit of reassurance or rest.

Voiceover: Before he became a uniform sergeant at Cranbourne, Cam had been a police dog handler for much of his career. Being tethered to a canine gave Cam a different angle on these pursuits. When the crooks dump the vehicle and run, PolAir guides the canine units to the fugitives.

Voiceover: Cam doesn’t know Gavin personally, but they’ve worked together before with success. And their interaction tonight will be precise and efficient.

Audio from police radio
Sgt Cam Wallace: 756 got eyes on those two vehicles still heading along western and got them in the distance with taillights. Driving’s a little bit above the speed limit but driving to the conditions and that'll be approaching Thompsons. Stand by for direction of travel.

Sgt Gavin Devine: He does a great job just maintaining obs (observations) from a distance. But the key is he calls the cross streets for us, which gives us a street, direction of travel, and the next cross street.

Audio from police radio
Sgt Cam Wallace: Coming up to the intersection now, I’ll give you a direction of travel shortly. Shaping up for west-bound Thompsons, going to be going over the railway bridge.

Sgt Gavin Devine: So once again, the person in the back, and on this case it was John, can bring that up and slew the camera. And you'll see initially like the camera will slew, and then stop, and then slew again as we're getting these different updates. And then yeah, once we get that on the camera, that's kind of where we take over.

Sgt Cam Wallace: If you don't know your patch it makes it incredibly hard to get ahead of the game and that's not just from a sergeant's point of view, but also the troops and the senior sergeant running the patch. I've worked this patch for a long time, both dog squad and uniform, and know a lot of the common routes or know common intersections that they're going to go through.

Voiceover: Cam’s first order of business is to keep police radio chatter to a minimum, which is sometimes easier said than done.

Audio from police radio
Sgt Cam Wallace: Keep the air clear, all units, you know your patch, get ahead of it.

[Steady electronic beeps]

Voiceover: The tone you hear is Gavin in the helicopter, call sign ‘PolAir’, trying to cut through other voices to speak to Cam.

Sgt Gavin Devine: We haven't come up, so he doesn't know that we can see him, or them. And unfortunately, with the police radios, only one person can talk at a time. So if you have a lot of ground units that keep pressing the radio and say "Oh can I get a copy of the job?" and another one "Can I get a copy of the job?" they're the only people that can sort of talk.

Voiceover: A copy of the job is when a radio dispatcher sends details of an incident to a police officer’s mobile device.

[Digital beep tones followed by muffled radio chatter]

Voiceover: Cam projects calm leadership over the radio. His demeanour is important to the outcome.

Sgt Cam Wallace: It makes all the difference from the supervisor point of view. Your supervisor has confidence in you, but also it's a calming effect on the troops.

Audio from police radio
Sgt Cam Wallace: Coming up to the intersection now, I’ll give you a direction of travel shortly. Shaping up for west-bound Thompsons, going to be going over the railway bridge.

Sgt Gavin Devine: So that's a key for us – railway bridge. Well, there's actually two railway lines, but where he mentions Thompson and the railway, it's like "OK, perfect". I can find that on the Melways really easily because, like, once you know what a railway looks like on the Melways, it's a straight line. Bang, Thompsons, Melways – OK, that's where they're going to be. So now I've got a point in space where I need to go.

Voiceover: Yes, you heard right. In the chopper, Gavin is interpreting Cam’s directions from a Melways street app, just like any motorist can download for $2. But this Melways is linked to the aircraft’s camera and GPS system. For many years, the Air Wing used paper versions of the street directory.

Sgt Gavin Devine: As we’re flying along, Melways is great. Like if you're on the road, like, if you're a police officer and you've got either your phone or a paper Melways, just get it out because it will show you where the petrol stations are, where the schools are, where the shopping centres are. It shows you everything, and that's all that's all we used to call these jobs is a Melways.

So we're 10kms away, but we've got the camera on the target and I can see that out the window because like, you see the railway lines, it's got – anyone that may have seen a railway line at night from a helicopter – you just see a black line but it's got the red stop signs, obviously, for the train to go, so I can see – because out of all this light, there's darkness and red light, and there's a train going right in front of us.

Sgt Cam Wallace: So PolAir mightn’t get the car, but they might see the rail bridge. Trying to get those ones that give them a chance to get in there and as you can see on the screen, they've already got a fast mover there and we're heading down to an industrial estate, which makes it a little bit easier for us as well because it's a bit more scarcity in vehicle traffic.

Voiceover: With PolAir now locked on, Cam Wallace wants to back off the crooks to play his tactical leadership role.

Audio from police radio
Sgt Cam Wallace: 756 I'll remove myself from the follow, I’ll be the PFC (police forward commander). Sticks are authorised.

Sgt Gavin Devine: So there – perfect intro. He’s authorised stop sticks so immediately there’s a resolution plan. So, he's given clear direction for everyone else to stay off the radio.

Audio from police radio
Police radio dispatcher: Just confirming this is going to be an extended follow then?

Voiceover: At this point, Cam gets another police car to take over as the lead vehicle so that he can become the police forward commander for the chase.

Sgt Gavin Devine: So, it was a great thing that Cam did there like, we need to have a supervisor because now it's, you know, an extended follow. Someone needs to be in control, and as a primary following vehicle, you can't do that.

Sgt Cam Wallace: I think I was driving that night so I'm doing comms, driving the police vehicle, asking for support. Once PolAir are there, I can pull back, do a lot more checking of the downlink. But safety is the absolute one priority. If we can't get there, we can't help someone.

Voiceover: In movie terms, PolAir has a God’s-eye view, almost directly above the offending vehicles, which are gleaming hot through the FLIR screen. There are two cars, but only one helicopter.

Audio from police radio
Sgt Gavin Devine: We’ve got the south bound, which vehicle do you want to stick with as a priority? The front or the rear?

Sgt Cam Wallace: Yeah 756, the front one's gonna be the confirmed stolen at this stage. If we can stay with that one.

Sgt Cam Wallace: We knew the front one was absolutely confirmed. The other one might be stolen, might not be reported yet, generally up to no good, but let's go with the one we've got confirmed offences for, and put our eggs in that basket.

Audio from police radio
Sgt Gavin Devine: So it's southbound Evans. Speed’s at 120 approaching Central Parkway.
Police radio dispatcher: Roger.
Sgt Gavin Devine: If these cars see some headlights are following them, it's going to escalate their driving. At the moment, it's not too bad.

Voiceover: Cam Wallace now directs his troops to deploy stop sticks in side streets and alternate routes, trying to anticipate the offenders’ likely options.

Audio from police radio
Sgt Cam Wallace: I need sticks at Central Parkway, Camms Road and South Gippy, Monahans and Sladen, thank you.

Sgt Cam Wallace: Sticks set up at Monahans, at Central Parkway, Evans and Central Parkway, Evans and Thompsons and out to Halls Rd behind the Woolworths.

Voiceover: Then a twist. From the air, Gavin sees the offenders ditch one car. All of the crew pile into the other, a silver VW Tiguan.

Audio from police radio
Sgt Gavin Devine: Alright, one vehicle has been abandoned outside number 10 at Sharyn. At least four offenders out from that one and inside the Golf now. On the move, left hand turn, northbound on Genista towards Central Parkway.

Sgt Gavin Devine: That’s a dead-end there guys, dead-end. Get out, get your sticks across, he’s going to have to come back. They’re in Parnell Court doing a three-point turn. Get those sticks ready, they’re coming back.

[Sound of tyres screeching and then hissing]

Audio from police radio
Ground unit: Sticks successful.

Voiceover: The Tiguan has run over the stop sticks, taking out at least one tyre.

Sgt Gavin Devine: When we hear members come up and say "Stop sticks successful" it's like, you know, it’s music to your ears. You know that there's going to be a resolution now.

Voiceover: What happens next is up to the offenders. They decide to continue, so Cam will keep his plan going until the car is on rims.

Audio from police radio
Sgt Cam Wallace: We will keep going with stick plans please, get rid of all tyres.

Sgt Gavin Devine: We learn through experiences. It's not always just one set of stop sticks because some of these cars will have run-flats. Some of the drivers are so determined not to be arrested that they'll keep going no matter what. So the more wheels you can take out, the better. But in this case, it was enough to tip the game in our favour.

Audio from police radio
Sgt Gavin Devine: Alright, near code 12. Gonna be southbound on Fairfield, heading towards Duff. Speed’s about 60.

Voiceover: The first sticks have slowed the car down significantly, but this is not over yet. The driver’s moves are becoming erratic, posing a possible risk to other road users.

Sgt Cam Wallace: There is that misnomer with stop sticks, like, the tyres explode all of a sudden. The needles that go in there, they slowly deflate.

In this instance, I don't think there was any ill intent from them, they were just cutting a corner to make it faster and, yes, unfortunately there was a car going the other way. But yeah, there's no evasive action needed there, it was just one of those things and they've taken all reasonable to avoid it. I'm watching that, I'm confident they're not a risk to other road users in terms of, they’re taking deliberate action to hurt someone. They're just crooks trying to get away.

Voiceover: With PolAir tracking every move, Cam can afford to be patient and let the crooks make the next move, which will probably be on foot.

Audio from police radio
Sgt Cam Wallace: At this stage, I don’t want any vehicles behind them with lights set up.

Voiceover: Their patience is soon rewarded.

Audio from police radio
Sgt Gavin Devine: Vehicle’s abandoned – 14 Fairfield. We've got at least four out on foot, running all different directions.

Voiceover: It’s a chaotic scene as the offenders scarper through gardens and side alleys. There are only five crooks this time, but these stolen cars are often dangerously overloaded.

Sgt Gavin Devine: I think the record’s like nine – nine out of this Commodore, and then, before they all ran off, they had the decency to run around the back, open the boot so the other guy could get out. This car had just been driving like a lunatic so the poor guy in the boot, like he’s all disorientated when he gets out. I think he was slightly intoxicated as well – he didn't make it far before he’s just like "I can't take it anymore".

Sgt Gavin Devine: I try and paint a word picture because it's pitch black, there’s fences and houses and bushes everywhere so you just try and get across as much detail as you can, but not tie up the air with waffle, because these people are now moving into a dangerous environment.

Audio from police radio
Sgt Gavin Devine: First police vehicle’s there and, keep going they’re on your left-hand side.

Voiceover: The crooks decide there is safety in numbers and regroup. Four of the five try to escape over rooftops.

Audio from police radio
Sgt Gavin Devine: Now if we can get some units into court, they're down the driveway of gonna be number 14. Looks like they're climbing over the back towards Station Street.

Sgt Cam Wallace: We were the first unit to pull up there. My boys ran and chased crooks, and I sat in the car watching the downlink so I could manage it. Had my little Mr Holland’s Opus in there and get things going.

Voiceover: For some reason, the four turn back and jump back into 14 Fairfield. Two walk right into the arms of police and a third goes back on the roof before he decides surrender is his best option. A fourth seems to have vanished.

Audio from police radio
Sgt Gavin Devine: We got members in number 14 and looks like they’ve got at least three in custody.

Sgt Cam Wallace: Gav’s done an amazing job here where he's in aircraft and he can orientate himself to those members and tell them just left or rights, keeping it simple to get them in there because you’re running, you’re not often hearing your radio.

Audio from police radio
Sgt Gavin Devine: And we have got one in the back of number 2 Station Street and he’s going to be hiding under some furniture in the rear yard of number 2 Station Street.

Sgt Gavin Devine: Once they hide and go stationary, it's just a matter of time. You know, whether it's the dog that comes and says hello or we get members in, like, it really reduces our workload because we don't have to keep getting this cordon and setting people up.

Voiceover: Perhaps the fugitive thinks the camera can’t see him, but the heat signature gives away his position.

Sgt Gavin Devine: It's no secret that's how they work because I think it was like MythBusters where they had this ‘How can you avoid a heat camera?’ and they've used everything from the CO2 extinguishers, to hiding under those metal blankets, you know, emergency blankets, that kind of stuff.

Voiceover: For the record, none of this worked for the MythBusters.

Audio from police radio
Sgt Gavin Devine: Alright, members running northbound on Station Street, keep going, keep going to your right, keep going. Yep, up that fence is on the opposite side of that fence, to your left, behind the bushes, the part that joins the house hard left, hard left. Through the bushes, over the fence. He’s about two meters in front of you, hard up against the house.

Member at the fence, hard left, that’s him. PolAir 31, they've got that one.

Voiceover: John on the FLIR camera pulls back to a wide shot to search for what they believe is the last fugitive.

Audio from police radio
Sgt Gavin Devine: Can we get a roll call how many offenders in custody please? Police member: 756 offsider, two in custody with the car.

Sgt Cam Wallace: 756, two with my members, got one with PSOs, one with 450. Four offenders.

Voiceover: Gavin sees something back at the original property where the first two runners were collared. It’s little more than a speck of light among some bushes. Something only an experienced tactical flight officer could spot.

Sgt Gavin Devine: So, you can see the heat in a person's body. It's a lot warmer than the surrounding environment. Obviously, these people have been packed inside that car, they're pretty heightened, so their hearts will be pumping, they've got a lot of heat in their body. And they start running, which obviously generates more heat, which is better for us.

Audio from police radio
Sgt Gavin Devine: Yeah, PolAir 31. The members that went down the driveway and got those, can we get the members back down that driveway? We might have one more hiding in the bush just in front of those parked cars.

Voiceover: As hiding places go, it’s fairly artless. Gavin has seen all the techniques, which mostly fail.

Sgt Gavin Devine: There was one only a couple of weeks back in South Melbourne. Mate, this guy really didn't want to be caught because he's gone so far in this like cactus farm. It was, like, all you could see was, like, wall-to-wall prickly pear cactus, you know, the real violent kind. And he's in there deep and I’m like, well, "He’s in there, I don’t know how you are going to get him out but that's where he is". There are some dedicated people that really want to hide.

Sgt Cam Wallace: Yeah, I’m down the driveway, sitting in the car, doing it easy, and everyone else is running around. But yeah, they've seen that tiny sliver of heat and yeah, let's recheck it.

Voiceover: Within seconds, uniform members are back in the driveway. They’re almost on top of the last crook, but, because it’s so dark, can’t see him without their eye in the sky.

Sgt Cam Wallace: The guys have gone in there used their torches, whatever. But when you're hands on with one, unless someone's in your face, you're not looking. But I think they were reasonably confident that a few had skedaddled over rooves and, but, yeah, it turns out that there's someone right there in front of you.

Audio from police radio
Sgt Gavin Devine: Yeah we got one, yeah member pointing, go in between those two cars. You got the right; you got the bins on the right-hand side. Then you'll have a bush behind those bins, hard up against the fence line. But on your right-hand side now, right-hand side, right. Yep. Go to, no, to the bush, the bush and in that bush there. Yep, that's it.

Voiceover: The offender is pulled out from his hidey hole by one arm.

Sgt Cam Wallace: I think I'm out of the car at this stage and it may have been me dragging that person out by one arm.

Audio from police radio
Sgt Gavin Devine: Awesome work.

Sgt Gavin Devine: That was a good one. Like, five from five, two stolen cars and in 10 minutes, it's pretty good. This is going to sound terrible, but we pretty much high-five and say what great job that was and fly back to base. But on this job, we finished up this one and then literally within two minutes we get on another chase that goes for an hour and a half.

[Sound of helicopter blades whirring]

Another good result, so we've got those guys as well. But yeah, that was just back-to-back jobs.

[Sound of helicopter blades stopping]

Voiceover: After nine years, Gavin is one of Victoria’s most experienced Air Wing officers – he’s never lost the thrill of policing from the air.

Sgt Gavin Devine: It is a huge adrenaline rush but then at the end, you get that huge adrenaline dump and you are exhausted. And that's, I think that's part of the reason why they had such a vigorous testing process, physical testing components, to get you where you needed to be.

And that's probably why I take the physical fitness side of things so seriously, like, because you never want to be the person that can't do the task because of your physical capabilities. It does take its toll – there’s a lot of, the vibrations from the aircraft, which is the nature of the environment, is very fatiguing as well as that concentration is very fatiguing.

Voiceover: Gavin never thought this career would take him so far. The airwing has proved to be a challenging and fulfilling workplace for him.

Sgt Gavin Devine: We're no different to anyone else on the van. Like, we're just doing this job. Just we have a different vehicle to get things done by.

Voiceover: Police Life: The Experts is a Victoria Police production.

Your host is Belinda Batty.

This episode was written by Adam Shand.

Additional writing and research by Jesse Wray-McCann.

It was produced by Adam Shand and Jesse Wray-McCann.

The senior producer was Ros Jaguar.

Audio production and original music by Mat Dwyer.

Theme song by Veaceslav Draganov.

Executive producer was Beck Angel.

This podcast was created by the Media, Communications and Engagement Department at Victoria Police.

To learn more about the work of Victoria Police, go to police.vic.gov.au.

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