Alicia to walk for a cause
CONSTABLE Alicia Martin is the changing face of the police force.
The 35-year-old mother of two dabbled in careers in health care, marketing and outdoor education before signing up for the Victoria Police academy.
Graduating as a squad leader in May, Constable Martin was stationed at Corio police station.
In her four months in the force, she has been exposed to a diverse range of jobs — some traumatic — which has reinforced her belief all police officers should be aware of their mental health from day one.
“It’s something that’s always been really close to me. I think members joining fail to realise how important it is to look after your mental health,” Constable Martin said.
“I’ve only been out for a few months and have already recognised how taxing the job can be.
“I’ve seen some really confronting things.”
Constable Martin will join Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton, police union secretary Wayne Gatt and other police members in the first Head to Head walk this month.
Starting today, Mr Ashton and Mr Gatt will walk 1000km from opposite sides of Victoria to raise awareness for police mental health.
Constable Martin, who said she had received great support from her colleagues, will join walkers near Lakes Entrance and walk almost 30km.
“I am really looking forward to it. It’s going to be slightly reflective and it will be amazing to have the opportunity to talk to (Mr Ashton) about the kinds of things he has experienced in his career,” she said.
“(The walk) is raising awareness for police officers who are experiencing post traumatic stress disorder ... from my point of view I want to be able to raise awareness in the recruitment phase to get people to realise how importance it is to get help straight away.”
Retired police officer and convener of the Victoria Police retired officers peer support program Mick Cummins said the walk would raise muchneeded funds for retired members who live with PTSD.
“(The walk) legitimises what we do,” Mr Cummins said.
“It gives us that public profile and shows that there are a lot of damaged people out there in the community and they have been damaged simply doing their job,”
The Ocean Grove resident will give an opening address at the Head to Head launch at Mallacoota today.
“With the funds raised it will help give us a base system to train our peer officers and to assist those that we are assisting in a much better way,” Mr Cummins said.
The walk will end at Wangaratta on October 23. Support the cause by visiting headto headwalk.org.au.