June 2002 Volume 83 Number 6 "serving the protectors"
Likely to return?
By Brett Williams

On assignment in South Australia, British policeman Mick Matthews has faced some comical situations. But the serious side of his work here might have prepared him for a commissioner’s post – in Australia.

Englishman Mick Matthews wanted some time to think before he gave his deputy chief constable an answer. But how hard could it have been to accept a three-month trip to Australia on a police exchange programme? Not hard at all, given that Matthews, 41, only took five seconds to say “yes”.

“It’s just not the sort of opportunity you turn down,” he says. “I just felt Australia was a very big country with a lot of experience, and that there had to be something to gain from it.”

Although the young superintendent from the Kent Constabulary had never been to Australia, he did not, at first, react with excitement. Only when he saw the excited reactions of his family, friends and colleagues did he see the true depth of his good fortune. His status as Australia-bound then became a great thrill to him.

He would don an SA police uniform, take up the post of Adelaide LSA commander and lead almost 400 Australian cops. His exchange partner, Superintendent Tom Osborn, would take Matthews’ post of OC of the Maidstone police district in Kent.

Now, half-way through his assignment, Matthews concedes he left England with no knowledge of Australia, or its culture. He did, however, leave with a warning not to tell convict jokes. So far, he has refrained.

But did he believe, as Americans often do, that kangaroos hop their way down the main city streets of Australia? “Any of the Australians I’m working with will know I had exactly those ideas,” he admits.

“And, having driven around the countryside a couple of times, I thought: ‘That’s funny – I haven’t seen any kangaroos’. It’s the first question everyone asks when you ring home: ‘Have you seen any kangaroos?’ ”

And, disappointed that he had not seen a koala within his first five days in the country, Matthews paid a visit to Cleland Wildlife Park. There, he posed holding a koala for the commonly snapped tourist photograph.

Since he arrived in mid-April, Matthews believes he has made a number of discoveries. One is that Australia does not export its best beer and wine. He thinks he has uncovered “all the good stuff over here”.

He has also discovered the degree by which the giant island continent dwarfs the British Isles. When one of his friends invited him to visit the Northern Territory, Matthews thought he could just cruise up there by car in an afternoon.

His misjudgement of distance brought some raucous laughter from his Aussie hosts. Now he speaks of how the huge expanse of Australia has “caught me out”.

The language barrier, too, has sometimes caught out the affable superintendent on the job. He had never heard an arrest referred to as “a pinch”, and was dumbfounded when he heard street cops speak of “bona fiding” people.

Says Matthews: “I turned to the sergeant I was with and said: ‘What on earth are they talking about – giving someone a bona fide?’ Of course, now I understand it’s about checking out who they are, but it’s not a phrase I would have ever used or heard at home.”

Words have even caused Matthews embarrassment off the job. Invited to Showdown XI, he told a police officer’s wife he would be “rooting for the Crows”. She kindly warned him not to use the word “rooting”; and Matthews now understands that football teams do not require their fans to engage in sex for them.

Much easier for London-born Matthews to adapt to has been the Australian lifestyle. “I haven’t found anything about the culture that I find difficult or awkward,” he says.

“The Australian sense of humour is wonderful. I was watching some of your adverts on telly, and one reduced me to tears I was laughing so much. It’s a lovely way that the Australians look at life.

“And I’ve fallen in love with Adelaide. I think it’s a wonderful part of the world. It strikes me, on occasion, as being very like home. I’m very envious.”

But the serious side of Matthews’ visit – his work – remains his priority. His mission is not only to head the LSA for three months, but also to pick up any practices worthy of use in Kent.

He stresses that he is not here “sitting on someone’s shoulders” and simply observing the action. His orders were always clear: take up the post and “do the job”. He has even faced media interviews, in which reporters expected him to know the exact state of play in the Adelaide crime scene.

At least two features of SA policing have already struck him as “examples of good practice”.

“One,” he says, “is the use you make of digital technology in your case prep, presentation to courts and crime-scene management. That’s certainly inspired huge interest. We haven’t got into that in a big way in our force.

“Also, there is a lot of interest at home in your general counter set-ups at police stations. The UK has been very closed in terms of its reception to the public. It’s much more open here, and a very relaxed atmosphere. I think there are some big things we can take from that.”

Matthews believes that cops in both his country and Australia face the same problems of under-resourced police departments and rising crime. But he has found some aspects of Australian policing particularly frustrating.

One such aspect is the turn-around times for detainees in police custody. Matthews says they are “very quick” compared to those in his own country. He argues that longer detention times give police the advantage in attacks on offenders’ networks.

Matthews has also concluded that SA police are “let down” by the state’s criminal justice system. This failure, he has observed, comes through prison mechanisms for early release, and inadequate court sentences.

But now clear to Matthews is that Australian and English cops feel cursed by “exactly the same” problems. He sees that, from each side of the world, they complain of promotions bottlenecks, poor equipment, inadequate pay and conditions, and oppressive complaints systems.

Matthews began his own career as a 21-year-old in 1982. Life as a cop had never been his childhood ambition, so he left school to work in the motor trade.

There, he might have stayed, until some of his friends looked at careers in the police force. Matthews found himself swept along in their exploration. He one day called into a local police station for an application form.

“The sergeant looked me up and down and said: ‘I’m not sure you’d be suitable’,” Matthews recalls. “I think that incensed me to say: ‘I’m going to push this now’, and I’ve never looked back.”

When his career began, his sights were set on patrol work rather than climbing the promotional ladder. He later took the view that, with more decision-making power, he could make a bigger difference.

Today, he runs the Maidstone police district with 304 officers and 40 civilian staff. The district covers an area of 490 sq km, and has a population of 175,000. But, still ambitious, Matthews plans to move higher up the ranks. He concedes that the exchange programme will serve as springboard from which to launch his ascent.

So, in light of his love for Australia and its lifestyle, might he one day apply here for a commissioner’s post? “I would never rule out something like that,” he says. “I’ve certainly been impressed with what I’ve seen here.”

It seems the disaster in which the term of British import, Peter Ryan, ended in NSW has not dissuaded Matthews. Ryan suffered public condemnation for failing to attend a murdered officer’s funeral last April. Matthews says Ryan’s behaviour surprised him, and that he would himself have attended the funeral.

“Being an Englishman,” says Matthews, “I’m always embarrassed if I see my countryfolk create an embarrassing situation. I think there are things Peter Ryan might look back on, and say: ‘Yeah, I probably didn’t deal with that too well’.”

Meanwhile, Matthews continues – in what is to him a foreign police uniform – to run his LSA, with cops who have come to call him “Gov”. He suspects they have picked up the term from the ABC’s popular British police drama, The Bill.

Devotees of The Bill would likely be shocked to hear just how vehemently Matthews condemns the programme. He has even banned it from screening in his home in England. He says it fails to portray police work accurately, and adversely affects real cops’ morale.

“Every five minutes of the day,” he says, “you see a police officer placed in an extremely dangerous situation. In almost every other episode, there is some finding of corruption. I’ve seen episodes where constables are mouthing off at senior officers. The reality is that we’re still a pretty disciplined service.

“We do have dangerous situations, but they’re not every day of the week. They (the producers) have got to create that perception of excitement, danger, corruption and insubordination to keep the viewer figures going. Well, that’s not British policing.”

Of Matthews’ stint in Australia, seven weeks still remain. But, after just one week here, he had already experienced his ultimate treat, which had nothing to do with police work.

He paid a visit to Victor Harbor and, from Granite Island, watched wild dolphins at play in the ocean. “I just thought: ‘Wow’,” he says. “I’d never seen a wild dolphin in my life. I got home and was on the phone straight away to my family, saying: ‘Crikey, you won’t believe what I’ve seen’.”

Matthews expects that, at the end of his working life, he will reflect on his Australian experience as the highlight of his career. “Or,” he says, “it will certainly feature in the top three.”

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