- Published:
- Tuesday 18 November 2025 at 9:00 am
| From supporting families at a funeral home to keeping commuters safe on public transport, Constable Morgan Baker has had an interesting career. |
It’s fair to say the mortician to police officer pipeline isn’t a common one, but for Constable Morgan Baker, his first career gave him some unique skills that have proved useful in his current job.
Not long out of high school and eager to find meaningful work that would make a difference to the lives of others, Const Baker relocated from Queensland to Melbourne and set his sights on a career as a funeral director.
“It was really curiosity that drew me to that job,” Const Baker said.
“I’d been to a couple of funerals in my life, and seeing how funeral directors spoke about the job, helped others and carried themselves appealed to me.”
And so began Const Baker’s rewarding career in the funeral industry, where he went on to become a funeral director and mortician.
As a funeral director, Const Baker helped families through their grief and supported the running of funeral services.
His time in the mortuary was much different, and involved preparing a deceased person’s body for the funeral in line with their families wishes.
“I would wash and clean the body, get them dressed, do a bit of grooming, makeup and also embalming if they required that, so the family could see their loved one in a peaceful state,” he said.
“Having those families come back to me with their appreciation and gratitude for everything we’d done for them in a difficult time made it all worth it.”
A change in direction
After two years in the industry, Const Baker’s curiosity had him revisit a long-held career aspiration – policing.
“Policing and the funeral industry have some similarities in that you’re helping families in the community, just in a different way,” Const Baker said.
“Funeral directing is on the end of the spectrum towards death, but I felt that as a police officer I could help people before they get to that stage.”
Two years after graduating from the Victoria Police Academy, 24-year-old Const Baker has settled into his new career in a role within the Transit Safety Division, where he is responsible for keeping travellers on Melbourne’s public transport network safe.
His future aspirations include joining the Critical Incident Response Team where he hopes to continue his work helping people in times of crisis.
Drawing on past experience
In his short time as a police officer, Const Baker’s prior experience has served him well on many occasions, but one job particularly stands out to him.
“Early on in my time as a police officer, we received a death report from interstate police about a person with family here in Victoria, so we had to deliver the death notification,” he said.
“It’s a part of the job that a lot of people dread but my time as a funeral director definitely helped me prepare for that and I fell quite naturally into it.
“I was able to deliver that information to the family and also help them a bit with what happens from there, obviously from my experience of what happens with the coroner and funeral homes, to help them ease into that process a little more.”
Const Baker’s advice for anyone thinking about changing careers into policing is simple.
“Just take the plunge,” he said.
“Being in the Academy is a completely different world, and when you come out of it you feel so accomplished and happy with yourself.
“You feel ready to make a difference.”
Find out more about the Victoria Police Academy and police training.
Editorial Cassandra Stanghi
Photography Supplied
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