WHEN Jamie Templeton was a teenager, he found himself with three career paths to choose from.
He could follow his father into shearing contracting, complete a trade or pursue his interest in becoming a police officer.
Twenty-seven years later the boy from Dunkeld is Swan Hill’s top cop, overseeing more than 100 Victorian Police employees and 15 police stations.
Now in his third year as Inspector and fifth stationed at Swan Hill Police Station, Insp Templeton has not only become an integral part of the local police service but also the local community.
It’s no wonder — on top of leading the fight against the big issues such as rampant ice use, the rising road toll and drug and alcohol-fuelled crime, he is a visible presence as he works tirelessly with dozens of local government departments and organisations to ensure these issues are being dealt with as a “whole community approach”.
“We have seen a steady reduction in reported crimes over the past three years. This bucks the trend for regional Victoria and is a credit to all police officers in this area…”
He is now starting to see the results of some of the initiatives he has spearheaded since taking up his position as inspector.
“We have seen a steady reduction in reported crimes over the past three years,” he said.
“This bucks the trend for regional Victoria and is a credit to all police officers in this area.”
But he knows there’s still a way to go — particularly with the local impacts of the ice epidemic ravaging regional Victoria.
“It is a significant issue in Swan Hill.
“We have certainly targeted known traffickers in the region. There are drugs being brought in by organised groups.
“Putting these people in cells is not the way out of the situation.
“It needs a whole community response.”
He says while many steps had been taken to tackle the situation, police needed more information from the community to really make ground.
A particular problem was ice users stealing from family and friends to fund their habit.
“A number of burglaries are not being reported because the offender is well-known to the victim.
“We need relevant information reported to the station, to Crime Stoppers.
“We don’t trace calls.”
Insp Templeton, who has been stationed at five different locations across Victoria throughout his career, said farm-based crimes were another big issue he had seen during his time in Swan Hill.
“We get a lot of sheep stolen, cattle from time to time.
“We also get a lot of thefts from farms. If you look at the area particularly north of Swan Hill there’s a lot of thefts from sheds that are accessible.
“We talk to a lot of our farmers about security. There can be a lot of money in those sheds in terms of machinery and chemicals for example — particularly if you’re in the know.
“Joe Blow driving along the road doesn’t know there’s potentially thousands of dollars sitting in that shed. But old mate down the road knows exactly what’s in there and if he or she tells someone that’s when we have a problem.”
It’s an area that holds true to Insp Templeton’s country upbringing. In fact, one of the highlights of his career was busting a prolific cattle rustler while working as a detective at Warrnambool.
“I have passion for seeing young members learning, developing and who want to make a difference…”
“Eighty head of cattle were stolen from the saleyards.
“We had nothing to go on — only the colour of the truck seen leaving the yards.
“After an extensive investigation we found the cattle up in Mungallala, Queensland. In total we located 250 stolen cattle.
“The offender was from Dubbo and he was entering yards overnight, driving them back to New South Wales and then putting them on agistment in Queensland.”
Another area close to Insp Templeton’s heart is mentoring young officers coming up through the ranks.
“I have passion for seeing young members learning, developing and who want to make a difference.
“Our role is to make this community as safe as we possibly can and what I talk to our constables about is: if you can make this a safer place to live, work and holiday in, then there are benefits to you as a police officer.
“Not only is there less crime and a better place to work, but if you own a home here your house improves in value and it becomes a place people want to come to.
“That’s everywhere from Kerang right through to Robinvale.”
Insp Templeton said he personally enjoyed living in Swan Hill and the lifestyle it afforded him, his wife of 25 years and their four children — although they were “nearly empty nesters now”.
In his spare time he enjoys playing golf and long distance running.
“There’s nothing better than knocking off work, going for a run and clearing my head so I can be a husband a father, instead of an inspector.”
