By ALESHA CAPONE
AFTER four decades of service as a policeman, Brimbank CIU Senior Sergeant Fred Grove has bid the force farewell.
He has spent 14 years at Sunshine Police Station, after stints across the West.
As the longest serving officer-in-charge at Sunshine since the CIU was established in 1956, Sen Sgt Grove will take some well-earned long-service leave before he officially retires in a few months. Star spoke to Sen Sgt Grove last week:
What memorable experiences happened in your early days on the force?
I was at Russell Street Police Headquarters in 1986 for training when the bomb went off and a young policewoman was killed. That was a very sad day. I can distinctly remember all the dust falling from the cornices of the room and coming out of the curtains on the windows. We were evacuated to LaTrobe St and there were about 20 detective sergeants in training that day, but they were not used to help with evidence preservation at the scene due to the fear of further explosions. When I moved to Sunshine CI, we had the beginning of the underworld killings, which started off here around the Sunshine area with a number of people who resided here or who were believed to have been killed in the area.
What have you enjoyed most about your time in CIU?
One of the biggest things has been the camaraderie at Sunshine Police Station and Sunshine CIU all these years. The people I have dealt with have been fantastic. Very hardworking people thrown into the deep end, from the academy into a very busy policing environment. Unfortunately the nature and complexity of the work here has seen some members with lots of potential leave, just because they have been unable to cope with the work pressure.
What case have you been proudest of overseeing?
One of the very satisfying ones was when we had an aggravated burglary on a home in Sunshine where a young girl was molested by a male offender, six or seven years ago. The primary-school aged girl certainly suffered some psychological trauma as a result. One of my detectives worked long hours and put in a lot of work investigating a male who lived in reasonable proximity to the home and we were able to get a conviction on a number of sex offences relating to the that particular incident. The offender was incarcerated for quite some time. Solving the case brought some relief and closure to the family.
How has criminal behaviour altered across 40 years?
Today is a totally different society to when I started off as a policeman. Drugs were an emerging issue, but only relating to the use of marijuana and magic mushrooms. They were nothing like the amphetamines and synthetic drugs on the market today. We didn’t have robberies and assaults with knives used on the streets, like today. We didn’t have drugs dictating house burglaries, theft of cars and the issues from gambling.
What are your post-retirement plans?
I have three grandchildren I hope to spend more time with and I will continue my community volunteer work as Captain of the Lara CFA Brigade.
