Sgt Gordon, who is based at the Kyabram Police Station, has worked for 20 years, while Constable Fraser, who is based in Tongala, has served for 30 years.
Senior Constable Fraser entered the force through the academy back in 1988 and moved around many stations before arriving at Tongala, which is a one-member station.
Senior Constable Fraser has been in Tongala for seven years and says that being the only police officer in town comes with plenty of benefits.
“Single-member stations are really good,” he said.
“They are the ultimate in community engagement and you get to talk with a lot of really good community members who are very keen and passionate about their community. They definitely make your job a little easier in some regard.
“However, they expect you to be around 24/7 and that can be the downside because you can’t be there all the time. You’ll be there most of the time and when you’re not they are like ‘where are you?’. But when you want police, you want police and that’s it, so you can understand where they are coming from.”
He has worked across many metropolitan stations in his time, including Thomastown.
Senior Constable Fraser was stationed at Nunawading for a while before moving to Echuca in 1993 where he did highway patrol. He moved to Shepparton where he worked in prosecutions and the courts for six years.
He says the best part of the job is when a case turns out well.
“The jobs that always have a positive outcome are good,” he said.
“Such as finding a missing person, solving crime or catching offenders that have done the wrong thing. Then the community goes ‘this is good’, because you are doing something that they want.”
Sgt Gordon always wanted to be a police officer as a child but had a few obstacles in his way before entering the force.
“I applied a couple times and got knocked back but was successful in the end,” he said.
“It was 22 years ago now. Just got there through ambition as a young fella. I had a goal and followed through with it.”
Sgt Gordon has worked at metropolitan stations and rural stations and says the community focus that people in rural areas have makes their job a lot easier.
“We rely on community feedback for us to do our job more effectively,” he said.
“I think your smaller communities are more focused on that as they have a vested interest in the town, so they work with the police better than your bigger metropolitan and city areas do.”
He spoke about how technological advancements had changed policing during his time in the force.
“Policing has changed over the years,” he said.
“In my time, technology has evolved and so has the force to keep up with it. I think the introduction of social media has changed the dynamics of society, as well as the way we address things and issues that can arise from that as well.
“Social media has created problems but it’s also a good tool to use with our EyeWatch and other avenues to help us with our job as well. On one hand it has created more work for us but it’s also been a benefit to us as well.”
Sgt Gordon said every job had its good and bad moments.
“But those moments when you can help someone turn their life around — I think those are the highlights of any police officer, really,” he said.
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