Vic Police Association boss opens up about Dezi Freeman manhunt with Nova’s Jase & Lauren

This morning on Nova 100’s Jase & Lauren, the team spoke with Wayne Gatt, CEO and Secretary of the Police Association of Victoria, about the emotional toll on officers during the seven-month Dezi Freeman manhunt.

Gatt reflected on the mix of relief, trauma, and ongoing grief felt across the force following Freeman’s final moments, the impact on officers’ daily work and the enduring commitment of Victoria Police to remember their fallen colleagues while continuing to serve the community.

Gatt said the arrest of Freeman brought relief, but not closure:

“There’s no rulebook for this. That’s the reality, but the officers concerned too. I spent as much time as I could with them yesterday, with as many of them as I could yesterday, because it stirs everything up again. As I say, you know, it’s mixed emotions. Like you think that there’d be satisfaction or relief or happiness. I’m not sure that’s true. I’m not sure that’s true.”

Jase: “We were saying earlier, I don’t think you’d ever get full closure on something like this.”

Wayne: “I don’t think you want it like and I know that sounds odd, but you know, we’ve got this thing in the police force where we don’t forget those that we lose, and if you have full closure, you forget, you park that. And we don’t want to do that.”

Jase & Lauren can be heard from 6am to 9am on Nova 100 in Melbourne. Listeners can stream the show live or catch up with the daily podcast by downloading the Nova Player.