The Arson and Explosive Squad are highly specialised team of investigators that work in conjunction with multiple agencies to help keep Victorians safe from serious crime.
From crime scene investigation and examination, to sophisticated training exercises, this highly agile team are continually honing their skills.
Transcript: Get to know Victoria Police - Arson and Explosion Squad
Chris Murray, Detective Inspector, Arson and Explosion Squad:
The first thing people will see at any arson scene is Arson and Explosives jackets. We're deliberately visible there because we want people to know and have reassurance that they've got highly specialised investigators handling what is probably the most traumatic event they've ever been through. And I think that in itself brings a lot of confidence.
Arson is the act of deliberately, recklessly, negligently lighting a fire with a criminal act in mind. And that criminal act could be revenge, profit, harm.
So we'll attend both suspicious and non-suspicious crime scenes, attend scenes where there's fatalities, where we have an element of organised crime involvement, bushfires or there is something about the crime where we have a threshold which is serious.
We've also got the explosive side of the house where we'll deal with quite sophisticated IEDs, Improvised Explosive Devices.
So, we'll take on any explosive incident in partnership with the Bomb Response Unit, identifying avenues of inquiries.
It's really a multi-agency unit where we're dealing with experts in a number of fields. It can be quite specialised in terms of cause and origins.
We will send our staff out with the chemists and work in partnership with our fire agencies, including CFA, Fire Rescue Victoria and DEECA. We'll also work with our defence partners as well.
Members at the Arson and Explosive Squad need to have skills, so there will be a raft of courses they will need to complete. We always look for opportunities to upskill our detectives, but by the fact that they're attending crime scenes, they build exponentially on the experience they have got from those courses.
You know, the best part of my job is the theme is great, but the people are better. They’re are fun lot of really top-notch investigators. They jump in and help each other.
I've met the most amazing people, been involved in some amazing investigations. If you're ambitious, want to learn then it's just an incredible job.
Every day is different and I think that's what the men and women in the office love about it. We just never know what we're going to get.
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Specialist roles and areas
Learn more about the Arson and Explosive Squad, along with other specialist roles and areas for police officers.
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