You're on the air with Jason Lauren Clint's here as well, Jason Lawrence, tell me what's you know?
Without doubt my favorite segment we do on this show every couple of weeks, so we get a different area of the Victorian Police in and this guy is going to become a regular. Superintendent Wayne Cheesy Cheeseman is in the house.
Good morning, Cheesy, Good morning, Superintendent's great to be here.
You know, one of my best friend's surname is Cheeseman, and we all say it ain't easy being cheesy.
Is that how you feel about your job?
Look, I'm probably one of the lucky ones thirty eight years in and I love it. I love it. You're going to work every day, So I'm not one of the negative ones that you might hear about. I'm very positive.
Well. Our Victorian Police works so hard, especially at the moment, it feels like the joints falling apart.
Dare I say it?
So? I wouldn't say it's falling apart. We've got so many good people that are working really hard, but the work is really accountable. We're being asked to do more and more with less and less, and I think we're so stretched. The members are getting tired. Yeah, so it's a matter.
For It's lucky they've got you because you've bloody done it all. What haven't you done at Victoria Police Cleant.
I've been really fortunate. So I've worked in some great years with some great people and I've had a ball, to be honest.
Yeah, thirty eight years side squad. What else have you done? You You're now a superintendent of an entire region. You've done drug investigation, Big task force, Echo task force.
How's this one? Clinton?
In twenty fourteen Victorian Police Detective of the Year. So with all that under your belt, can you take us back to the incident that involved your own vehicle several years ago?
Cheezy this life?
How bad news? Tuble was fast? It was only a couple of weeks ago. Actually, I was over New Years down at Sorrento. I was down there with the family on holidays and park the car, let's drop the kids off at the beaches and we're all going to meet up in the mainStreet of Cerento. My wife and I went for lunch at the French hotel and walked into the street. We all convened. I said, I'll go and get the car. And the car wasn't there stolen? Well I thought it was stolen. So a police car comes
down the hill. I flag it down. This is who I am. The alarm bell start ringing. We've got to help the bus. We've got to help him find his car. Police are coming from Rye and all surround the areas the crime.
Well, you've got to look out for your mate, you know, they need your herethren. Where did they catch the crooks and the car cho.
So what happened is I walk back and tell the family the bad news. We're out of car. My daughter tells my wife. My wife goes, you haven't lost it. It's not stolen. You just don't know where you parked it. And as soon as she said that, I knew she was right. She's always right.
Where had you parked it?
Different street, in a parallel street? Then I had to eat humble pie. And then anyway, we walked back to the car with my wife. All the patrol you there's four members there. As soon as they arrived, my wife says, jeez, they promoted anyone in.
Who was it more embarrassing admitting it to your colleagues or your wife colleagues everyone. Is it true?
Your colleagues are calling you Chief Wigan.
They calling me Chief Wigan. They were calling me Sherlock. It's a crazy story.
Ease everyone. I found the camera.
You know what, I would have actually organized to have the castle, and I never would have admitted it.
Yeah.
I would have paid one of my kids and said take the car and park it somewhere else.
He cheezy.
You've got a couple of kids yourself, late teens, early twenties. How do they go with dad being a superintendent?
It's really interesting. So my older one, who's twenty two, flirts with the idea of maybe joining the police force. All his travels out of his system. Yeah, but I'm not sure if you'll committed or not. I've got one of assisteranish year twelve that wants to be a professional basketballer, and then my daughter's doing year twelve, so she hasn't thought much more than you know what's on the phone tonight.
Clearly, you know you find your work very, very rewarding, and you've been promoted through the ranks, which is fantastic. There's industrial action going on all sorts of stuff. It is tough work right now. What's to paint a picture of modern policing in Victoria.
Modern policing in Victoria, like I said, we are so accountable. If I look at the sergeants and the senior sargeants who are the patrol shift supervisors, they are glued to the radio. It's not unusual for there to be dozens of jobs all backed up waiting for police to attend to. It's sort of the way that the I guess society has evolved. They're wanting more and more from police, but
we don't have the resources. So it's my message to my members out in Northwest Metro in Division four is all you can do is your best with what you've got. You need to prioritize what your tasks are. I understand it. Cards is concerned to victims say they've had their car broken into or a burglary that the police can't get there.
But if we're tied up with a family violence matter or something more serious, unfortunately, they're the priorities that we have and the decision we have to make day to day.
Well, no quick fix.
Before when I said it feels like the fake place is falling apart, I didn't mean vic Police. I meant Victoria, it feels like more than ever, we've got more crime. People are feeling less safe. I mean, I know youth crime is out of control. This issue with breaking and entering and stealing cars, it feels like it's just spiraling and getting worse and worse every week. Are we imagining that or is Victoria in a worse place than before?
No? No, Obviously, our crime statistics were released before Christmas by the Deputy Commissioner and we're at the highest levels ever of crime. Youth crime is definitely a problem. Gang crime is a problem. Home invasions are a problem, deft of cars are a problem. So yes, the police have one aspect of enforcement. Everyone's trying, but it's a.
Big he cheezy can I like the mood. How often do you go the gun range?
We have to qualify every six months. Just the paper targets, paper targets and you're going to shoot in the gray.
I was watching Beverly hill cople this week, just made me think they were down to the gun rage, and I thought, I wonder how many our officers are going down.
I see Mel Gibson on Unleaf the weapon when he's had a smiley face have you ever tried to do that. I've never seen anyone do that.
I've tried to do.
This doesn't work.
Hey, look, Superintendent Wayne Cheeseman is on the air this this morning. We're doing probe the po PO. We're going to open the phone lines. You're up for taking questions, beautiful. Thirteen twenty four ten is our number. Nothing's off limits.
Superintendent cheese is in the house and we'll come.
Back and take your calls next. We always do different areas the Victorian Police. We've got our regular in the house this week. Superintendent Wayne Cheeseman, Cheesey Cheesy is here to take your calls. Thirteen twenty four to ten is our number. You've You've worked in a variety of different areas.
Of the police, almost all of them.
You ever done the water routs, the water police.
I've never done the water police. I've been out on the boats, but I've never actually worked for the water police.
Because I think we're going to be doing the diving squad coming up soon, they've asked us if we want to put on the wet suit and go for a swim.
Oh no thanks, that's not for neither.
It's just more concerned the horse ones, the horses, the mountains.
The mountain police. You can do the deep time horses.
All right, let's go to the phones. Always say you are on the line with Superintendent Cheesey. What's your question? Hi morning, guys, good to hear back, Thank you.
I just want to know why don't.
Police officers give you your blood alcohol levels after IRBT.
Ah, we just say you're over or under.
So the preliminary one, which is the first one you get, is only an indication, so we rely on the blood test one as the one for evidence for court.
So just say overall under.
It just says over under, So it just gives us a power then to demand the blood test, which is what we use for evidentary purposes.
But on your screen it's just over runner.
No, it'll say the wedding on the screen, but we don't take that as an a the most accurate for evidence. So we just say you are now required to undergo up blood.
So that's why on RBT, if you are over, they drag you to yeah for a secondary test.
When you're roadside and you're getting someone to do a breath test for ships and giggles, have you ever gone.
Like on the show I haven't.
What's wrong with you? Any other intelligent questions you've got.
Fore Yeah, when it comes to policing, toying with people isn't really high, especially nervous look cheesy.
There's a reason that Jase would never make it into the And that's just one of many.
There was a very funny video I saw on the gram the other day, and it was someone driving a left handed car and so the guy sitting in the passenger seat on the rights actually had a few drinks. They pulled up at the RBT. The cops laying down hasn't noticed that the steering girls on the other side. So his breath of the passenger and gone, mate, you are way over and they all burst out laughing.
Like wrong person.
Let's go to Amanda and Barrick. Good morning, Good morning. Have you got a question for the Victoria police.
I do.
I want to know what happens to all the drugs that they see in the rape those big rates that they do drugs. So we have a forensic science center out at McLeod and there's destruction of all drugs gets taken or all the drugs get taken in they get destroyed by qualified scientists in the process, sometimes before court, sometimes after court. Sometimes we keep samples. So we have scientists that do all the destruction of all the drugs that we see.
How do they destroy them.
That I probably don't know. I've seen cannabis burnt and you see all the police standing around the bonfire and the powder chemical process.
All right, get the vans speaking of drugs, and just to straighten up a little bit, is I mean, where where do we sit with drugs at the moment in the community? Is I mean recreationally and you know you're out in the night out and you do see a lot of people partaking.
So the truth is drugs are everywhere. They're in society throughout society, from your street heroine users to your high end cocaine users. My message to those who do decide to use is just be very careful because you probably buy a powder or a pill you don't actually know what's in them, so it can cause them very serious health implications, including death, which I've seen a number of times by regular users who think they are using something
they've used before which turned out not to be. So just be very careful if you choose that path.
Yeah, it's scary.
Let's go to Brian in Hastings. Brian, you are on the air with Superintendent Cheesy.
Watch a question.
I have a question.
Have you ever been out in your uniform?
Have I ever been.
Asked out on a day?
Well?
True, a man in uniform is very.
Handsome, any uniform or just the police.
I have been asked out, but I guess there's a young single man. Back in the day, everybody wanted to work New Year's Eve because lots of drunk girls wanted to kiss a policeman at twelve o'clock. So that was probably one of the perks in the day.
A paddy wagon, was it you someone to lunch?
It was sorry, I wasn't dropped home.
It was actually to the venue.
I wasn't arrested. I got a few parking mines and they I got my tires clamped and that a car had parked. So this is where when I was at university and a car had parked so close to my car. When I had paid the finds, they came to clamp off. They couldn't get it off. And now I was like, well, I'm going to lunch with my girlfriends. They said, well, I'll drop you.
I was like, Okay, in the actual paddywagon, I.
Was in the backseat, they wouldn't put the sirens on. I was very disappointed.
No, fine, I just a final question.
I know, you know, back in the nine and stuff, it was police discretion, you know, if you pulled someone over, whether you let them off or not. Now I see all the cops wearing the body cameras. There's a power taken out of the police to make the decision on whether to do a warning or refine.
No, we still have the discretion. I guess. The body warned cameras is there for their safety, for their safety and our safety, and just to show a true account of the.
Interact evidence evidence in court.
But I sometimes think that a warning can be just as powerful as a ticket, you know.
Just I hope I'll get you next on the Hey, Superintendent Wayne Cheeseman Cheesy on the air of This's doing Probe the paper.
Hey, thanks for coming in, mate.
No, my please, are really nice to meet to.
A sorry police guys are working so hard, So thank you for everything you do.
Thank you, Lauren, wake up feeling good on No.
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