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Day in the Life of Lorraine Van Dulken
‘The next thing I knew, it was full
on, ‘Lorraine says. ‘He grabbed
my colleague round the neck
and I thought he was going to be
pulverised. I knew I wouldn’t have the
strength to put him in a wrist lock,
because his arms were bigger than
my legs, so I wrapped my legs around
his legs and tried to pull on his arm.
He pulled his arm around with me
hanging on it and we were looking
squarely face-to-face, and he said,
“You can’t do nothing, miss”.
“I knew I wouldn’t
have the strength to
put him in a wrist
lock, because his
arms were bigger
than my legs.”
‘I thought to myself, “Wanna bet?”,
and I had to deploy the spray,’
Lorraine says, ‘That’s the first time
I’ve ever used spray in all the years
I’ve worked; I’ve normally been able
to contain the situation, or restrain
them, or talk them down. But we
managed to cuff him and we gave
him after care and everything.
‘I’ve never been frightened,’ Lorraine
continues, ‘I don’t know if it’s just
my nature. The only fear I had was
that my colleague was going to be
seriously injured, and I was going
to do anything possible to stop that
happening.
‘I did meet the prisoner again,
because he was charged and he had
to come back to the Watchhouse,’
Lorraine says. ‘He had completely
changed his behaviour, and he
apologised to me.’
WHEN YOU’RE NOT AT WORK, WHAT
ARE YOU DOING?
‘I’ve just got another dog, a red cattle
dog puppy,’ Lorraine says, ‘so she
keeps me busy. I have to take her out
every day because she’s a working
dog and she needs exercise.
‘Sometimes when I can marry up with
my husband’s time off, we like to go
camping,’ Lorraine continues, ‘and
basically my next goal is planning a
camping trip around Australia when
I retire. We might even sell up and
just go.’
‘I absolutely love Australia,’ Lorraine
says. ‘You have a beautiful lifestyle,
and I think the people are very
honest. When I first thought about
coming here, I didn’t know anyone,
and everyone thought I was mad. But
I love the openness of Australians.
“A spade is a spade.
I like that kind
of talk.”
‘I think it’s becoming more like
England, though, which is a real
shame,’ she says. ‘People are
becoming more afraid to say things.
Once you start telling people what
they can and can’t say, it goes
underground and it’s all whispers,
and that’s when people find it more
offensive.
‘So that’s what I like about Australia,’
Lorraine says. ‘You can say what you
think, and still be professional. Here,
a spade is a spade. I like that kind of
talk.’
Queensland Police Union Journal August 2012 55