I Catch Killers podcast host Gary Jubelin on how lockdown has impacted police

Former cop and I Catch Killers podcast host Gary Jubelin says the latest NSW lockdown has once again had an impact on the state’s police force.

The latest NSW lockdown has once again had an impact on the state’s police force, with its attention now devoted to issuing fines to citizens not wearing a mask or social distancing.

It’s a position that former homicide detective Gary Jubelin, who was on the force for 34 years, says he would be uncomfortable doing if he were still working for NSW Police.

“I know our role as police is to serve and protect and I understand the importance, but it’s a role that [police] wouldn’t be enjoying,” Jubelin tells Stellar On Friday.

Gary Jubelin says the pandemic has blurred the lines between power and corruption. (Picture: James Evans)

The media presenter and host of true-crime podcast I Catch Killers adds that the pandemic has also blurred the lines between power and corruption.

“What concerns me is that when someone calls something a ‘pandemic’, people are fearful that they can’t question decisions,” Jubelin says.

“While corruption is human nature, it balances out if people can question authority. My observation, whether it be in the police or different cases, is that you see some people enjoy that power and that control. I’d like to think the majority of the police wouldn’t enjoy it, but I also know that power corrupts – and I see that COVID has given certain people power and it’s intoxicating to them. That worries me.”

Find more exclusives in this Sunday’s Stellar.

Jubelin’s honesty is one of the reasons he’s found so much success following his retirement from the police force in 2019. Since then he’s penned a book, and is currently writing his second.

His hit podcast, which is produced by News Corp Australia, is now in its third season and he’ll embark on a national stage tour later this year, with his friend, actor Rob Carlton.

“People are going out of their way to support me,” Jubelin says.

“My kids laugh at me and say, ‘Why would anyone want to listen to you?’ But I think people have identified with what I stood for. That’s what they can relate to.”