Canberra police officer 'put ACT on the map' for revolutionising response to sex offences

Lauren Gilliland started with the ACT police force in 2006 as a 19-year-old civilian, answering phones at the 000 emergency desk while studying at the police college.

“I joined because I intended to become a sworn police officer, and that was a great stepping stone,” she says.

This week, the born-and-bred local was among six local emergency service members to receive the ACT Community Protection Medal for “distinguished or outstanding service to the community”.

Over the past three years, she has helped put the ACT on the international map when it comes to dealing with sexual offences and child abuse.

Or, as the award’s blurb reads: “Detective Sergeant Gilliland’s work has revolutionised the delivery of training and investigations into sexual offences and child abuse in the ACT and is now recognised internationally as best practice.

“Detective Sergeant Gilliland has had a major positive contribution to the lives of numerous victims in Canberra and is an exemplary police officer in every regard.”

Detective Sergeant Gilliland has worked in a number of different areas within ACT Policing over the years, first in general duty at the Belconnen Police Station, then teams investigating targeting antisocial behaviour in Civic and high-risk recidivist offenders, followed by a move into criminal investigations – mainly focussing on Taskforce Nemesis which targets outlaw bikie gangs.

“I’ve just moved into command of emergency management and planning a couple of months ago, so we plan the policing response for events like the King’s visit, Summernats, Skyfire and the election,” she says.

In December 2021, a Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Steering Committee handed down a number of recommendations to the ACT Government, including several for ACT Policing.

According to the report, this was based on the fact that “too often, the response by the community, government agencies and the justice system in the ACT fails to meet survivors’ needs for healing and justice and can be re-traumatising rather than supportive”.

Detective Sergeant Gilliland says the report found many ACT police officers hadn’t received training in how to handle sexual assault or child abuse cases “for a significant amount of time” and what training did exist was “outdated”.

She was selected to work alongside criminologist Dr Patrick Tidmarsh and child psychologist Dr Mark Barnett – both international experts in their fields – to gut 75 per cent of the existing training regime and basically come up with a new one.

She says a big focus was on getting the officers to understand how the minds of both the perpetrator and victim work in these cases.

“The fact is offenders act, and then victims react, so it was imperative to help officers understand how offenders think … and give them a better understanding of who they’re dealing with,” she says.

“It’s not a simple thing, one size doesn’t fit all, so we had a victimologist come in and present, victims come in and present, and … they talked about how the memory works and how people go into fight or flight – all these responses a victim is unable to control.”

It was two years of work to build the program, taking in feedback along the way, and so far, more than 100 officers have gone through it, and that number is growing every day.

“Overall, the feedback has been extremely positive. Police in the sexual offences space state they feel far more confident.”

The training has even attracted the attention of police forces in other jurisdictions within Australia – and the world.

“A number of other policing jurisdictions have sat in as observers, so we’ve had the Tasmania Police and the Australian Defence Force Investigative Services, and we’ve had international police sit in on the training and take those learnings back to their countries, who are looking at their own training and how their officers can be better equipped as well.”

Detective Sergeant Gilliland has since handed over her position, but especially since receiving the medal, feels “very honoured and humbled” about her contribution.

“I’ve made some amazing, professional relationships with varying organisations that support victims in this space, but also survivors who I continue catch up with, some of them actually presenting on that sexual offences and child abuse program.”

Now, at 35, she says she’s “still got a lot left in me yet” to continue her work in ACT Policing.

The Community Protection Medal itself was established in 2002 as a way to acknowledge police and emergency services members for their service.

The medals are awarded each year, with this year’s presented by Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services Dr Marisa Paterson during an evening ceremony at Regatta Point.

Dr Paterson was “deeply impressed by the unwavering dedication of the people in these agencies in ensuring the safety and well-being of our community”.

“They are true examples of the outstanding individuals within our emergency services. In times of crisis, they are the people who step up,” she said.

“We also extend our gratitude to the families for their ongoing support. The commitment, the deployments, and the overnight and public holiday shifts are what allows us to live in a safe and secure city.”

The remaining five recipients include Michael Caldwell from the ACT Ambulance Service, Commander Guy Cassis from ACT Fire and Rescue, Colin Dawes from the ACT Emergency Services Agency, Commander Adam Hartnett from the ACT State Emergency Service and Nicola Lewis from the ACT Rural Fire Service.