Ballarat Highway Patrol members impacted significantly by horrific crash

Speaking with The Courier, Ballarat Highway Patrol Sergeant Stuart Gale voiced his shock at the incident, adding the Victorian Highway Patrol Unit is very close throughout the state.

"An incident like this certainly has an impact on our group," he said.

"The Highway Patrol is a small group in the Victorian Police force, a lot of people know each other and develop connections throughout the state so an incident like this impacts in a big way.

"I think there are 320 Highway Patrol vehicles in the state so we're not a very big group. We have members that know other members that attended the incident. We all do the same job, we all know the road is a dangerous place... we're on the front line."

Sergeant Gale added while he did not directly know the four police members involved in the incident, ensuring the wellbeing of his members in the region was always a top priority.

"From here on we're just touching base with our members, making sure they're okay and are in touch with any services should they need them."

He said speaking to members after an incident like the one on Wednesday evening is one of the hardest things to do as a Sergeant.

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"You don't know what to say, you don't know how they're going to react, you just want to be there for them."

The Australian flag at the Arch of Victory has been lowered to half mast in honour of the members lost on Wednesday evening.

President of the Arch of Victory committee Garry Snowden said the flag would remain this way until ANZAC Day.

"In honour of the four police officers who lost their lives while serving our community, the Arch of Victory flag will be lowered to half mast and remain so until Anzac Day," he said.

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