New GLLO on the job
I am a senior constable at Victoria Police鈥檚 Operations Response Unit.
On June 24, I was one of the 22 Victoria Police members who completed the Gay and Lesbian Liaison Officer course. As a new GLLO, I believe that the community I鈥檓 serving in 鈥� both the straight and LGBTIQ 鈥� needs to know a bit about me but without sounding like a politician running for office.
I graduated from the Victoria Police Academy in 2006 and was stationed at the Melbourne West Police Station where I spent the first five years of my police career. Melbourne West鈥檚 geographical boundaries include the west side of the city, Docklands and Kensington (which now belongs to Melbourne North).
This is where the term 鈥榗ity policing鈥� applies because, apart from performing general van duties 鈥� responding to 鈥�000鈥� calls which inculde burglary, theft, suicides, domestic violence, car accidents 鈥� we deal with what I call 鈥榳eekend offences鈥� such as liquor licensing breaches, drunks, anti-social behaviours, brawls, and assaults.
After just over four years, it was time for a change. In 2010, I transferred to the Operations Response Unit (ORU). The ORU is a very young arm of Victoria Police.
It was established in March 2010 and its members are a 鈥渉ighly visible and trained response team tasked by the Deputy Commissioners to tackle high-priority public safety, road policing and crime issues across the state鈥�. (That鈥檚 the definition according to the Victoria Police website.)
Being a GLLO at the ORU provides me with an exceptional role where I have the whole state of Victoria as my 鈥榩layground鈥�. Since I have been in this unit I have been deployed to Ballarat and Mildura where I performed public order operations which mean the general weekend offences.
I have also been to Bendigo to perform traffic operations targeting mobile phone and seatbelt offences, drink/drug driving and drivers licence and car registration offences.
Then there are the local suburban operations where we assist the local divisional units with additional patrols and response teams.
My deployment to any place across Victoria gives me the privilege of being able to continue to perform community policing in the LGBTIQ community. Like our NSW GLLO counterparts, I will continue to consult with local community groups to foster confidence in the Victoria Police force and encourage reporting of homophobic violence and crimes; and prevent anti-gay/lesbian violence, harassment and domestic violence.
By planning ahead and finding out what LGBTIQ groups exist in the area I鈥檓 deployed I will endeavour to make time to introduce myself. So if you see me at various events, feel free to say 鈥淕鈥檇ay鈥� and have a chat.
By GERARD DE LEON
