Victoria Police Academy: Klint's story

We are Squad 16.

We have people in our squad that have come from all different walks of life, that have joined straight out of high school.

People that have joined later in life that have run their own businesses for many years.

You get to know each other so much, work in a close knit team.

And it is definitely one of the best parts of the Academy life.

I've had a very good time with this group, and I hope that we can continue to see each other.

That's definitely been the highlight for sure.

Prior to this, I was an ice cream maker, which is an interesting job.

However, it is quite routine. I felt like I wanted something a bit more dynamic, exciting and challenging.

And I thought a police officer career could provide that for me.

I have really liked my time here. It is very daunting at the start.

You walk in to these gates not knowing what to expect, but then you get used to it.

At the start of your training you do a lot of learning about law, which I thought would be daunting.

But the instructors do a very good job of breaking it down, and you learn, piece by piece.

From there you have your defensive tactics training.

You learn how to safely and securely apprehend an offender, how to deal with people using communications skills, and your tactical options.

I had no idea that Victoria Police had that many roles within it.

I was initially drawn to the more tactical side of policing.

My hobbies are doing martial arts, going to the gym.

But since being here at Victoria Police Academy, I've learned that there is so much that you can do.

The detectives looks exciting, the K9 looks exciting, the Airwing looks exciting.

And there's actually more that I don't even know.

The Academy prepares you learning to do on the job.

We have separate placements you go on.

The Watch House is where you’ll go out to a police station.

You stay in the Watch House and learn how things are done there. The people there were very supportive.

You go in the city, which is more operationally policing related, and where you go out on patrol, and you're there with a large team that supports your learning.

You're there with your squaddies as well. It's a great deal of fun.

So many different opportunities, and I'm very much looking forward to getting out there doing the job that I've signed up to do.

Serving my community, helping people and meeting all the people out there that I will.