Senior Sergeant Jasmine Gregor: A day in the life of a Shepparton police officer

Being a police officer in Shepparton is the best of both worlds: community policing and city action, Senior Sergeant Jasmine Gregor says.

Acting Senior Sergeant Jasmine Gregor shares what a day looks like for a Shepparton police officer.

Walking into the Shepparton Police Station at 6am officers have no idea what their work day is going to look like.

After kitting up and going through a safety briefing with a sergeant, officers are at the mercy of their radios for the remainder of the day.

From assaults to welfare checks, car crashes to family violence incidents, police are the first to respond.

Acting Senior Sergeant Jasmine Gregor has been a police officer for almost 30 years.

For her, it’s “game on” from the time officers walk through the door in their uniform.

“Every day’s different,” she said.

“They don’t know what they’re going to do when they walk in the door.

“This is how insane their day can be, they can go to a fatality, where they then have to go and tell the next of kin that their loved one died and then in the next 10 minutes, they’re going to a brawl at a house.”

It’s not all serious, all the time though and for Sen-Sgt Gregor to hear her team laughing in the station between jobs or at the end of a shift is her favourite part of any day.

“I just love hearing them laugh, it’s just such a positive sign that the station is flying and that they’re going okay,” she said.

Beginning her career as an undercover officer tasked with buying drugs, primarily heroin, in Melbourne, the mum-of-four always knew she wanted to work outside the city.

After stints in Swan Hill and Hopetoun, she moved to Echuca and worked there for 15 years while raising her family.

Six years ago the opportunity for promotion in Shepparton appeared and, with an initial plan to be in the biggest Goulburn Valley town for only two years, she remains there today.

Acting Senior Sergeant Jasmine Gregor has been stationed with Shepparton Police for six years.

“It wasn’t in my plan, but working here is like working in a city station in a rural environment,” Sen-Sgt Gregor said.

“It’s community policing at its best with all of action that a city has.”

In the uniformed department at Shepparton there are three senior sergeants, 17 sergeants and 75 officers of other ranks.

Their four main priorities are road trauma, family violence, aggravated retail crime and youth.

So far this year, four people have died on Greater Shepparton roads, after 10 people died in 2024 and 14 died in 2023.

“Road policing is everyone’s responsibility,” Sen-Sgt Gregor said.

“We put a whole lot of work into it this year, especially in the Greater Shepparton area, and the results speak for themselves.

“It’s not just focusing on the massive things, it’s the smaller things like distractions or being a little bit over speed, or over alcohol.

“As soon as we hear car accident over the radio, our heart rate immediately goes up because you know it’s not going to be pretty.

“Hopefully, it’s not as bad as what your mind’s telling you it could be, but it’s not only the collision, it’s then having to tell loved ones someone is seriously injured or deceased.”

There are 95 uniform police members stationed in Shepparton who are the first responders to incidents across the region.

Sen-Sgt Gregor said retail crime was a “bottom feeder” into more serious crimes like the drug scene or aggravated burglaries.

“In the last 12 months, we’ve had more than 100 alleged offenders apprehended and processed for retail crime,” she said.

“We have more of a strategic method rather than a reactive method and feedback from shop owners and the community is that they see us out and about.

“We may not be in our uniform, but we are there in plain clothes watching and responding.”

Sen-Sgt Gregor said youth as a priority was about making sure young people were supported, in order to prevent crime rather than react to it.

Shepparton police are hosting a Neighbourhood Policing Forum at Parklake Hotel on July 23 at 1pm — a chance for the community to ask questions and talk about the crime and police issues that are important to them.