“The best job in the world”
Detective senior constable Jessica Lewis is a driven, enthusiastic woman who has achieved a work life balance in Victoria Police and would “always recommend” it as a career path to others.
A Gippsland local since 2012, Det Lewis now works in the Baw Baw Criminal Investigation Unit, a small group of detectives at the Warragul Police Station dedicated to solving and preventing local crime and apprehending criminals.
Originally from Melbourne’s south east suburbs, joining the police force was a childhood ambition for Det Lewis.
While she has family members in the force and knew she wanted to work in public service of some kind, it was a primary school excursion to the Victoria Police Academy that sealed the deal for Det Lewis.
“It just stuck with me from that point,” she said.
After high school, Det Lewis worked in customer service and hospitality roles before joining the academy in July 2010 at the age of 24.
She was initially stationed in Narre Warren, and later Morwell, before scoring a position as a detective at the Central Gippsland Sexual Offences and Child-abuse Investigation Team in 2016.
Det Lewis gained a position with Baw Baw CIU in 2020.
She said she had never felt disadvantaged being a woman in the police force, conversely, she had always been supported by those around her.
“I’ve always had good experiences since joining the police force, I’ve never felt that I was disadvantaged in progressing my career or going in another direction,” she said.
“I got my job when I was 16 weeks pregnant - my detective role - and my boss knew that I was pregnant at the time and that didn’t stop me from getting the position.”
“They were supportive the whole way through my pregnancy.”
After maternity leave, Det Lewis returned to work parttime and continues to work in a part-time capacity.
In her current role, Det Lewis investigates crimes including burglaries, car thefts, thefts from vehicles, assaults, stalking, drug crime and property crime.
She said she loved the variety in her job, the flexibility it provides, and the team she works with. There’s always variety, you’re always learning something new...everyone in this station is fantastic.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re a male or female, it’s a great job, great flexibility, you can have a great work-life balance.”
Det Lewis said her department was “very flexible” with family commitments such as school pick-up and drop-offs.
While she is passionate about being a detective, she did not set out to take that specific direction in the police force.
“After working the van and seeing what they did, and being able to do temporary duties in that role then I decided ‘okay, this is a direction I want to take’, I really enjoyed it,” she said.
On working in a regional police station, Det Lewis said it is very important to maintain relationships with the community.
“It’s a busy place to work... you get your big, complex crimes, just like you would in Melbourne.
“I always recommend it, I love my job - I think it’s the best job in the world. I get paid to work with great people, it’s exciting, it’s challenging.”