She may come armed with a baton and capsicum spray, but Sunshine police station’s first ever custody officer, Glenda Mawson, says the most effective tool at her disposal is diplomacy.
Tasked with the “total care and custody of prisoners”, the 57-year-old mother of two from Tarneit began her career at Sunshine last Monday following an “accelerated” five-week training course.
The role of custody officers was announced last year as part of a bid to free up station officers so they can perform more traditional policing.
Mrs Mawson is skilled in defensive tactics but prefers to rely on a smooth tongue rather than a hand-held weapon to keep prisoners in order.
“I’ve usually talked my way through it [difficult situations],” she told
Star Weekly down at the station last week.
“Life skills and people skills are a must. You’ve got to be confident and show you’re not intimidated, but you can do that in a positive way. You come up against the odd one who’s not interested in listening to you, but generally they come around because they need you.”
Her supervisor, Sergeant Mark Ellen, agreed, saying custody officers needed “good communication and negotiation skills, and good temperament, when faced with people in an agitated state”.
Mrs Mawson is one of the first 15 graduates to be placed in stations across the state, with all having a background in Corrections. A further 19 new custody officers will join her at Sunshine over the coming three years. Officers are given a range of tasks – providing meals, bedding and medication, guarding prisoners in hospital, and transferring them to court.
Currently, the Sunshine station holds up to 18 prisoners in its cells during the day, 12 at night; a quota which is “frequently” maxed out.
Custody officers will also lighten the load on other staff, with the state government planning to create 400 custody officer jobs statewide.
Mrs Mawson made the switch to custody officer after almost 10 years at the Melbourne Custody Centre.
And she came ready for action, choosing Sunshine as her preferred place to work. “I don’t want to sit in a smaller station twiddling my thumbs,” she said. “The idea of working for Victoria Police [was appealing] … being part of a good team here in Sunshine.”
