What it's really like for a police officer to man a border checkpoint

While many of us were enjoying a break over Christmas and New Years, many Victoria Police officers put up their hands or were deployed to man border points between Victoria and NSW.

The Victorian Government moved quickly to establish more than 30 checkpoints along the state's border just days before Christmas, with fears about the growing number of COVID-19 cases in the neighbouring state.

So hastily setting up the checkpoints meant that some police cancelled their holiday plans to return to work early and lend a hand, with some forced to sleep in tents with accommodation already booked for the Christmas period.

Police from all ranks and units travelled up to the border, which was closed on January 2, to protect Victoria from another major outbreak of the virus.

First Constable Pat Cincotta, who has worked in Ballarat for three years and is based out of Ballarat Police Station, was one of these people.

He has predominantly worked in general duties but recently moved across to the Family Violence Frontline Support Unit.

He travelled up to the Victorian/ NSW border at Swan Hill with a number of colleagues and completed a stint there from January 4 until January 10.

He was accompanied by officers of three other ranks - Constables, Senior Constables and two Sergeants from Ballarat. A number of members from Bacchus Marsh and Melbourne also met them up there.

There, he worked a mixture of shifts between 'vehicle checkpoint six' at Swan Hill and 'vehicle checkpoint eight' at Koondrook.

"We worked the morning shift," First Constable Cincotta said. "We would start our shift when we left the motel about 5.30 in the morning."

Working in crews of about five members, they would then venture out to the checkpoints. Police were not assisted by the Australian Defence Force as they were when the 'ring of steel' was in place separating Melbourne from regional Victoria.

"Our job was to stop every vehicle that came into the checkpoint from the NSW side to the Victorian side and ensure they either had the right permit, that they came from an appropriate border town or that they were in their border bubble.

"If they've come from outside of those areas then we checked their permits and made sure that they were entering lawfully as per the Chief Health Officer's directions."

Most of the people crossing the border lived on one side but needed to travel across the border for work.

In Koondrook, a very small community, he said there were many locals there who would regularly cross the border to shop or run other errands.

"By day five you'd almost recognise most of the cars coming through as locals so it made it a bit easier," he said, adding that the locals were very relaxed and understood why the checkpoint was in place.

From the motel manager to the locals, he said everyone was very accommodating.

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"Working at the checkpoint, for example, we were supplied meals but a lot of our food was also supplied by the locals - home cooked meals, cookies, iced donuts or a box of Favourites.

"As they were driving through they'd almost throw it out the window at us and say thank you and keep driving. It was quite an experience."

The police worked in all weather conditions for about 10 hours each day.

"Our week wasn't too bad - we were pretty lucky to have some nice weather but it got pretty hot towards the end - about 36 or 37 degrees," he said. "But the week after we left was in the 40s so we can't complain too much about our weather. We came back with a nice tan."

First Constable Cincotta had previously worked a number of shifts on the Western Freeway checkpoint at Hopetoun Park, near Bacchus Marsh.

"I'd worked a few night and day shifts down there so I'd been exposed to the checkpoint duties a bit, but it definitely wasn't something that I'd trained for at the Academy."

He explained that manning the checkpoints was a little bit daunting to begin with.

"People were potentially coming from a hot zone into Ballarat and we were trying to prevent them from getting in so it was a little bit daunting at times.

"You're not taught how to check someone's permit at the Academy so it was a lot of learning on the go. You rely heavily on your supervisors initially to make sure the information provided is accurate.

"It can be a bit upsetting for the people trying to get through [the checkpoint], whether from Melbourne or NSW, and they're told that they can't come through."

As they enforced the directions, he said police also tried to be sympathetic towards people's situations.

He enjoyed starting the new year with a different duty and working in a small, regional town.

Noting that the border closure was "horrendous" for a lot of people, he said that for him it was a way to meet new people, develop new skills and gave him an insight into a different type of policing.

First Constable Cincotta had not met many of the officers he was working with previously.

"It was really good to meet different people. Spending 60-70 hours on a border checkpoint, you get to know each other pretty quickly," he said, adding that he enjoyed working with different people, in a different area and in a different capacity.

"To go up to Swan Hill and Koondrook and be a copper in a smaller community was a different kind of policing," he said.

He noted that working on the border with NSW was a very different experience to working at the checkpoint between Melbourne and regional Victoria.

"It was very different. It was more relaxed because the locals have a rapport with their local police up there and we just slipped in and were new local members."

A change from his normal duties, he said the experience was a positive one for him and was a welcome change from the fast pace of working in the divisional van in Ballarat.

"[Speaking to the community] is something that you don't get to experience when you're working in the van and going job to job - you're not stopping to speak to the community, because we are dealing with people for a reason. So to be in a location where people are happy to have us and to experience a different side of policing was a phenomenal thing."

While they didn't have much contact with NSW Police as they did not cross the border, they did work with Parks Victoria.

The State Emergency Service also helped to set up the checkpoint site so it was comfortable for the police.

When asked if he learnt anything from the experiences, he said he wanted to bring back more "patience" to his role in Ballarat.

"Patience is something that we all strive to have and even I can get frustrated at times".

He said people around Swan Hill were very patient on the roads and were happy to wait at the checkpoint.

"The locals were happy to wait for the checkpoint to be done properly and they understood the work that we were doing. So for me, it's the patience and the fact that people have so much of it up there and understanding of what we were trying to do.

"There was definitely a lot more understanding that we did need to stop every vehicle and check every person who was going across the border because we were trying to not only protect regional Victoria but the whole of Victoria because we've been through enough lockdown and I hope we don't have to do it again.

"Five or six minutes waiting [at the checkpoint] can be a bit frustrating but at the end of the day it's instead of months of lockdown."

While he was rostered to go back up to a checkpoint, the borders have since reopened.

In accordance with the updated Chief Health Officer directions, Victoria Police ceased operating vehicle checkpoints across the Victoria and New South Wales from 6.00pm on January 29.

"The operation has transitioned into maintaining mobile patrols in the vicinity of the border with approximately 150 police officers who will continue to enforce the Chief Health Officer directions.

"The majority of police officers deployed to the NSW border will return to their normal duties within their local communities proactively patrolling and responding to incidents in an effort to keep the public safe," the force said in a statement.

"Victoria Police will also continue to play its part in keeping the community safe from coronavirus, as we continue to support the mandatory quarantine program."

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