Narelle Fraser and director Claire Pasvolsky during a Q&A after the premiere of The Policewoman documentary at Echuca Paramount on October 17.
Photo by
Ivy Jensen
Before Narelle Fraser’s story hit the big screen and earned a standing ovation at the Echuca premiere, the former detective spent years protecting Kyabram’s streets.
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Now, the hidden personal cost of 27 years in the force is laid bare in The Policewoman, a powerful new documentary exposing the decorated former officer’s rise, collapse under the weight of cumulative trauma and long road back from post-traumatic stress disorder.
For many locals, Ms Fraser will be remembered as the passionate and relentless police officer stationed at Kyabram between 2005 and 2009, where she built a reputation for chasing down crooks and advocating fiercely for victims.
Among her proudest achievements was the investigation that earned her a Victoria Police regional commendation for helping convict a serial stalker in Kyabram in 2006.
Narelle Fraser's regional commendation from Victoria Police for her investigation into a serial stalker in Kyabram in 2006.
Ms Fraser had developed a particular interest in stalking offences throughout her career and recognised the warning signs others often overlooked.
“I knew stalking was often the gateway to more serious sex offences, including house entry rapes, many of which I’d investigated,” she said.
When reports began emerging of teenage girls and women being followed by a young man riding a bicycle, Ms Fraser suspected something more sinister.
She asked colleagues to report every piece of information they received, no matter how minor, and gradually began building a picture of the stalker’s behaviour.
“It took a few weeks but, with the help of my colleagues, we identified a young local male,” she said.
A search warrant was executed, evidence was bagged and the man eventually admitted to stalking and wilful and obscene exposure.
“I’m very proud of that award and the result,” Ms Fraser said.
Director Claire Pasvolsky and Narelle Fraser at the premiere of The Policewoman documentary at Echuca Paramount on October 17.
Photo by
Ivy Jensen
It was the sort of police work she thrived on. She was known around the station for her determination, her instinct for investigations and her refusal to ignore behaviour others might dismiss.
Her work regularly placed her on the frontline of unpredictable and dangerous situations.
In one incident, Ms Fraser was photographed by Kyabram Free Press photographer Ben Moyle holding a meat cleaver at Kyabram IGA after helping arrest a man who had allegedly attempted to hold up staff with a machete while “off his face”.
An article from the Kyabram Free Press (2008-2009) shows then Leading Senior Constable Narelle Fraser holding a meat cleaver taken from a man during an armed robbery at Kyabram IGA.
It was just one of countless jobs in a career spent confronting violence, trauma and human crisis.
But while she was protecting the community, the cumulative weight of the crimes she investigated was quietly taking its toll.
That burden sits at the heart of The Policewoman and makes it impossible to forget.
Over 90 minutes, viewers watch a detective who once considered herself “superwoman” gradually become overwhelmed by the horrors she was exposed to during her policing career.
The confession of the Box Hill rapist. The smell of burning flesh after a young woman set herself alight. The discovery of Maria Korp’s body in a car boot. Child abuse material repeatedly reviewed as part of investigations.
Former Victoria Police detective Narelle Fraser in the documentary The Policewoman.
Each traumatic experience adds another drop to what Ms Fraser describes as a metaphorical bottle until, eventually, it overflows.
“My world was imploding,” she said.
The documentary traces her descent into PTSD and the difficult process of rebuilding her life after being medically discharged from Victoria Police.
Yet despite everything she endured, Ms Fraser remains fiercely proud of her career and the people she helped.
“The good far outweighs the bad,” she said.
Sadly, the good moves on, the bad never really goes away.
The Policewoman will screen at Echuca Paramount from November 5.
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