Talking Point: Seeing the best and worst as a country copper

The shocking sudden death of a respected Tasmanian country police sergeant has rocked the community, as a column he penned talking about the highs and lows resurfaces. READ HIS WORDS >>

Police / Crime / file / generic / Tasmanian Police / Tasmania Police Emergency Services / Law. Picture: RICHARD JUPE

The shocking sudden death of a respected Tasmanian country police sergeant has rocked the community, as a column he penned talking about the highs and lows resurfaces. 

Police Legacy Tasmania confirmed the news of Snr Sgt Cooke's passing.

"It is with great sadness that the Board of Police Legacy Tasmania inform members and followers of the sudden passing of our Chair, Sergeant Rob Cooke," the organisation posted on Facebook.

"Rob was an incredible advocate and passionate leader for our important charity. His unwavering commitment and initiatives assist our current legatees and this will be an ongoing benefit for those of the future.

"Our deepest and heartfelt sympathy to Rob's partner Jen, his family, colleagues and friends.

"Rest in peace Rob, you will be sorely missed.

"If you or anyone you know needs help contact Lifeline on 13 11 14, Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636 or Headspace on 1800 650 890."

Some years ago, Snr Sgt Cooke penned an opinion column in The Mercury talking about the highs and lows of life of a rural police officer.

Here it is, in his own words.

FOR Australians of a certain age, perhaps the quintessential country policeman, the copper, was Senior Constable Gary Hogan played by Paul Cronin, zooming around the town of fictional Matlock on his motorbike.

In Tasmania, officers still ride motorcycles, but we also drive sedans and four-wheel drives across the vast range of the state’s landscape.

For 2½ years I have called Oatlands home, where I form a two-man team in the Oatlands Subdivision.

We co-ordinate with single officers at Kempton, Bothwell and Liawenee.

The subdivision covers Oatlands, Levendale, Tunbridge, Great Lake to Bagdad, from the Tasmanian Midlands to the Central Highlands and every point in between.

My history extends back 29 years with Tasmania Police, with a CV that includes the big southern stations Hobart, Bellerive, Glenorchy and Bridgewater.

I worked in Traffic, PORT (Public Order Response Team) and Radio Dispatch. In other words, I have seen the best and worst of the state’s crime situations, which fellow officers deal with every day.

I love working in the country, it’s a fantastic lifestyle and a good sea-change for someone with my long experience, away from the day-to-day high impact issues of the capital city stations.

But there are different issues and different pressures working in the country versus the city. Some of them are obvious and some are not. And some are the same.

We deal with rural issues, we deal daily with Tasmania’s farming community and, as we know from regular media reports and organisations such as RAW, Rural Alive and Well.

Every day, Tasmania Police comes into contact with the prevalence of mental health issues in the country … farmers and their families dealing with regular droughts and difficult financial circumstances.

I have nothing but respect for the farming couples who run large and small properties in the Midlands and Central Highlands, but they deal with those economic and environmental difficulties amid social isolation that no one in our cities can even imagine.

I have been fortunate in not having to deal in any great numbers with the tragic issue of suicide, people, mainly men, taking their own lives.

For the country officer, there is always the tyranny of distance. To go from Oatlands to Liawenee to cover a situation is a 110km drive … deal with the issues … and return.

In effect, all of us in the Oatlands Subdivision are permanently on call. On a shift of five or six days, when you knock off, you don’t really knock off, because you can be called out again 20 minutes after getting home.

All of the officers talk about how you don’t actually relax at home, because you are waiting for the phone to ring. When you go to bed, your sleep patterns are disturbed for the same reason.

You can pull an eight or nine-hour day and get home at 7pm, be called out to an incident 100km away and stay at work until 5am.

Which is why the Police Association of Tasmania has welcomed the Liberal Government’s commitment of 125 extra officers over the next four years.

Because in my station, one extra officer would make it so much easier to spread the load, by 33 per cent, obviously.

Because when an officer goes on leave in the country, for six weeks a year the areas we cover have to increase. The same coverage issues apply for normal rostered days off, long service leave, sick leave and other leave issues.

Extra officers will mean we can do our jobs better, be physically more on our game, which will make the Tasmanian country communities safer.

And for us, that’s the job we sign up for and what we are dedicated to, keeping Tasmanian families, the mums and dads and their children, safer.

Rob Cooke is the deputy vice-president, Police Association of Tasmania.