A POLICEMAN’S lot is not supposed to be a happy one according to popular wisdom, but that’s not the way the State’s top country cop tells it.
Dubbo-based assistant commissioner Geoff McKechnie – the man commanding NSW Police’s huge western region – could hardly be happier with his decision to swap his electrician’s kit for a uniform 25 years ago.
To his great delight the one-time Mendooran boy has spent his career deployed in the bush, or non-metropolitan postings, blending his zeal for country life with a job he’d love to see more country recruits taking up.
“I find it so rewarding being involved with country people,” says assistant commissioner McKechnie whose responsibilities cover an area representing 65 per cent of NSW.
In fact, he considers today’s technology, including farm security cameras and compulsory stock identification registers, can also make it much more rewarding tackling rural crime than just a decade ago.
While the policeman’s lot certainly has its challenges, particularly when there seems no limit to the bad news stories confronting the force in places like Sydney where warring gangs routinely shoot up suburban homes and even police officers are inexplicably killed while responding to calls for help – Geoff McKechnie is grateful to have been given so much opportunity in the job.
Originally from a family of shearers and sleeper cutters, he trained as a linesman with Ulan County Council in Central West NSW, then joined the police after a friendly prompt from two officers based in his local district at Dunedoo.
They were convinced he had the sort of practical life skills and empathetic qualities that could make a good copper.
And they were quickly proven correct. The new recruit topped his class at Goulburn’s NSW Police Academy in 1988, despite having his own early reservations about abandoning the security of his old job with a wife and young child to support.
“It turned out to be a great career, even though it’s had its moments,” assistant commissioner McKechnie says.
“I was fortunate in having a bit of maturity under my belt by the time I joined up (aged 26). I loved it from the start.”
His first posting as a probationary constable was Gilgandra – not far from where he’d grown up (raised mostly by his grandmother) often spending school holidays and weekends helping in shearing sheds and working on properties.
“I suppose that background as a kid and my previous country council work gave me a lot of affinity with farming people and what they did,” he recalls.
But he says a rural pedigree is not essential for turning out good country police officers.
“I’d really like to see more police recruited from country backgrounds to represent the force in country locations, but you also see people from metropolitan areas who can embrace country life just as strongly.”
After two-and-a-half years in Gilgandra and a seven-year stint at Dubbo, he took on the detective sergeant’s role at Broken Hill, later becoming local area commander for the region.
“It was a bit isolated and resources were limited for such a big area, but I was in charge of my own patch and learnt a lot,” he recalls.
“I’m always encouraging young police to get some experience in a remote location – it’s a great way to hone your skills.”
Last May assistant commissioner McKechnie officially took responsibility for most of NSW west of the Great Dividing Range, having previously held superintendents’ jobs at Orange, Gosford and Tuggerah Lakes.
He conceded policing the many regional communities and remote farming districts across such a big part of the State had some unique challenges, including training up and retaining staff in its smaller centres.
“Most applicants come from city backgrounds so it can be hard keeping them in more remote locations.”
When he’s not on the job he retreats to a rural block where the father of three boys and his wife Janice live near Dubbo.
Although he has no pretentions about being a farmer, he runs about 10 Angus steers.
