Monbulk Police Sergeant Alan Fincher will step down from the top job this week. 48992.
By Tania Martin
MONBULK’S top cop is hanging up his hat but is far from finished helping those in need.
Sergeant Alan Fincher will this week put on his Victoria Police blues for the last time before taking up a role in the Australian Federal Police (AFP).
The 56-year-old joined the force in 1972 but has spent the past 22 years maintaining law and order in Monbulk.
Sgt Fincher joined the police to do something worthwhile with his life and has never regretted a moment. He worked at a number of units in Flemington and Carlton before moving to his current post.
Sgt Fincher even spent time on the fraud squad and was the sergeant at Mooroolbark before moving to the hills in 1988.
He had always wanted to be in charge of his own country station but never expected to stay for 22 years.“It’s just a fabulous community to be a part of,” he said.“I was just fortunate to have the best job in the force.”
Sgt Fincher said the top job at Monbulk was by far the highlight of his career.
However he said it wasn’t just about maintaining law and order but being an integral part of the community. Sgt Fincher will next week, 28 June, fly to Canberra to take up a position with the international deployment group as part of the AFP. “I don’t know where I will finish up, whether it’s the Solomon Islands or East Timor but it’s something I have always wanted to do,” he said.
Sgt Fincher will spend the next six weeks training in the nation’s capital before doing further mission-specific training in September.
“By then I should have some idea where they intend to send me,” he said.
Sgt Fincher will be taking part in regional assistant missions, providing help to police in East Timor or the Solomon Islands and helping to build up the communities.
But this move doesn’t mean Sgt Fincher will leave the hills, he still plans to live in the area when he’s home on leave.
“I could be taking the biggest risk of my life,” Sgt Fincher said. “I don’t know how it’s going to turn out but I’m just looking forward to the challenge.”
Locals and other cops will also have to find another baker.
Sgt Fincher is renowned for his scones, which are often a talking point every Thursday morning.
He said he would have to train someone else and even hinted at giving up his secret recipe.
Sgt Fincher said he would miss working in the community and would especially miss playing cricket with the local boys. “I might have to start up a cricket team in the Solomon Islands,” he said.
Sgt Fincher said the Black Saturday fires had been one of the most memorable events he had seen during his career. “I have never seen anything like that and I hope I never do again, it was like stepping into a war zone,” he said. He also witnessed the 1997 Ferny Creek Fires and the 1983 Ash Wednesday fires. “We have seen it all – floods, windstorms and fires,” Sgt Fincher said.
Sgt Fincher has never shied from the public eye, he even tried his hand as a local councillor.
He said working on the Yarra Ranges Council had given him a new appreciation for local government. “It was a privilege to represent this area,” Sgt Fincher said.
