The 1970s fashions, firearms and forensics that made Victoria Police tick

Great sideburns, groovy cars and the growing role of women made it a decade to remember. Take a look at how Victorian police embraced the ‘70s with gusto. 

May 1972: Sergeant Bill Kneebone flashes a spotlight while on patrol as Senior Constable Bill Perkins calls headquarters. Picture: Herald Sun

The 1970s were a time of growth and great change for Victoria’s police.

In the decade of feminism, women stepped up and took a greater role in the force.

Technology and advances in forensic science change the face of crime investigation.

The decade saw police on the front line of a war against the road toll as .05 laws, seat belts and blanket speed limits outside built-up areas came into force for the first time.

Even the Victoria Police uniform came in for big changes as the decade closed.

The photographers of The Sun News-Pictorial and The Herald were there to capture these great images of the force as it adapted to a new era of social and political upheaval.

December 1973: Pith helmets were part of the Victoria Police summer uniform, as modelled by Constable David Shawyer in Smith Street, Collingwood. Picture: Herald Sun

September 1971: Inside D24 in Russell Street. Picture: Herald Sun

April 1976: Detectives display machine guns they believe were used in the Great Bookie Robbery at the Victoria Club in Queen Street. Picture: Herald Sun

December 1975: A fan cries hysterically as a policewoman carries her from the crush during the Bay City Rollers concert at Festival Hall. Picture: Herald Sun

October 1972: Detectives arrest singer Joe Cocker, who was charged over an alleged drunken brawl with police and security staff at his Melbourne hotel room. Picture: News Limited

1972: During the 1970s, women took on a greater role and joined Victoria Police in greater numbers. Constables Judith Hughes, Christine McIntyre and Evadina Ringma pose at the Victoria Police Academy with new police-issue handbags, which were custom-made to carry batons. Picture: Herald Sun

November 1971: Trainee policewomen on the firing range. Picture: Herald Sun

June 1974: Constables Marilyn Cooke (left) and Sharon Armfiled were the first women to join the Victoria Police Mounted Branch. Picture: News Limited

September 1973: Constable Eileen Gibbs, 21, was the first policewoman appointed to the Traffic and Patrol Division. Picture: Herald Sun

September 1971: Constable Gail Beams, 21, tests a new police pocket radio at Princes Bridge railway station. Picture: Herald Sun

April 1973: Angela Rust (right) and Pam Coleman were the first Victorian policewomen licensed for pursuit driving. Picture: Herald Sun

March 1978: The scene outside the Manchester Unity Building after a robbery and triple murder. Picture: Herald Sun

October 1972: Constable Harry Peters, 19, in his quarters at the police barracks on the sixth floor of what was then the new police building in Russell Street, Melbourne. Picture: News Limited

1971: Skilled Victoria Police motorcyclists Senior Constables Alan Jubb and Terry Walsh train for high — speed pursuit work. Picture: HWT library

March 1970: A policewoman comforts lost children at the police caravan at Moomba. Picture: Herald Sun

December 1972: This new, high-powered Ford Falcon XA GT pursuit vehicle, known as a candy car”, was destined for highway patrol duty on the Hume Highway. It had a top speed of about 230km/h. Picture: Herald Sun

October 1971: A policeman uses a new computer to assist parol vehicles to identify stolen cars. Picture: Herald Sun

June 1973: Forensic technology went ahead in leaps and bounds in the 1970s. Here, biochemist Pauline Hentorn examines a flick-knife to identify and group bloodstains at the Victoria Police forensic science laboratory. Picture: Herald Sun

June 1973. Sergeant Henry Huggins, of the Victoria Police forensic laboratory's field investigation unit, matches a plaster cast in his lab with a heel print found at the scene of a robbery. Picture: Herald Sun

May 1976: Police parade down Swanston Street to the Melbourne Town Hall. Picture: Herald Sun

December 1970: Police break up a demonstration outside Parliament House. Picture: Herald Sun

November 1979: Members of the Special Operations Group scramble outside the City Court in an unsuccessful bid to find Raymond “Chuck” Bennett’s killer. Picture: Herald Sun

June 1971: Some police were coming under fire for overly long hair and sideburns. Picture: Herald Sun

September 1978: Policewoman Jane Plant takes aim with her pistol in Russell Street. Picture: News Corp Australia

June 1977: A police forensic science trailer is towed to a crime scene in a St Albans Paddock. Picture: Herald Sun

January 1975: Sergeant Denise Whyte (second from left) with Constables Eileen Gibbs, Mary-anne Bieshaar and Margaret Carter. Picture: Herald Sun

September 1971: A plain-clothed mobile police crew at D24. Picture: Herald Sun

April 1976: A police information caravan outside the Victoria Club following the Great Bookie Robbery. Picture: Herald Sun

February 1976: A Victoria Police sky patrol prepares for take off at Moorabbin airport. Picture: Herald Sun

October 1973: Sergeant Bob Fox (left) models an open-neck summer shirt, which were initially trialled by police in Fitzroy, the city traffic patrol division and at northern country stations.

June 1973: Senior Constable Brian Hodge wears a then-experimental "reflector coat". Constable Oscar Aertssen is in the regulation uniform. Picture: Herald Sun

January 1978: Mark Brandon “Chopper” Read, 23, is led from Russell Street police headquarters to the City Watchhouse after trying to kidnap a judge at the County Court. Picture: Herald Sun

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Originally published as The 1970s fashions, firearms and forensics that made Victoria Police tick