The Water Police is the perfect career to blend your policing duties, and passion for the marine environment.
Transcript: Get to know Victoria Police - Water Police
Jake Cooper – Senior Constable, Water Police Squad
I wasn't built to work indoors. I want to be out in the sun, or the rain or the wind.
I like getting my hair wet. I like getting salty. And I like those challenging days where, where the wind's going sideways. That’s just fun to me.
Although the Water Police are stationed here at Williamstown, we're responsible for the whole state.
So that being all the coastal waters and all the 300 plus inland waterways, lakes and rivers.
We currently have three separate offices or stations, so we have an office down at Paynesville in Gippsland, we have an office in Queenscliff, and we also have a crew who work out of Hastings Police Station.
Currently the Water Police is split up into four separate teams.
So, we have the Marine Search and Rescue team, who are primarily utilising our two ocean-going offshore boats.
The Marine Response Team, got our rigid hull inflatable boats. They give Victoria Police capability to board or insert a team onto a moving vessel, whether that vessel, for example, might be transporting drugs or might be a hostile vessel or a terrorist threat. The Marine Response Team would be the team that’s called out for a job like that.
You’ll see them working alongside Special Operations Group, Critical Response Team, but also external stakeholders such as Ambulance Victoria and, the Australian Defense Force.
The Underwater Surveillance Team, they’re the crew who like the gizmos and gadgets, they're responsible for the underwater searches, looking for items of interest. We've got some pretty high-tech technology and, underwater drones and scanning equipment.
And we also have the Small Boat Team, responsible for the high-risk surf and swiftwater rescue environment jobs. We’re usually using the inflatable rescue boats that you see with lifesavers or jet skis, which we use quite commonly to support search and rescue dive operations.
I haven't had a day yet where I didn't want to come to work. I'm so lucky with the role I have here.
I literally get to work on my hobbies, so, what I do here is what I do on my days off. What more can you ask for in your job?
Yeah, if someone was considering a role in the Water Police and they love water and they love the environment of “you have to get a job done, no matter what” then maybe this is the place for you.
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