Speaker 1: You're on the air with Jason Lauren Clints here as well. Hey,
Speaker 1: coming up inside the next ten minutes. We love when
Speaker 1: people recommend things in this city, like you've got to
Speaker 1: go to this hairdresser. Oh my god, you've been to
Speaker 1: this cinema. They've got the nicest seats. There's a particular
Speaker 1: food that we have all been recommended.
Speaker 2: However, we've been arguing over it.
Speaker 3: We you've divided us.
Speaker 1: It's been the one thing that's almost pulled the show apart.
Speaker 1: This morning. We are going to put that to rest.
Speaker 2: We are and I shall win the debate.
Speaker 1: We will get to that coming up in the next
Speaker 1: few minutes.
Speaker 3: Okay, but first, it's been described as Australia's biggest tactical
Speaker 3: police deployment in history. That is the search for Desi
Speaker 3: Freeman in Victoria's High Country, the accused police killer. So
Speaker 3: we've got officers not just from vic Pole but also
Speaker 3: from every state and territory here in Australia. We've also
Speaker 3: got New Zealand police officers. Of course, the Chief Commissioner
Speaker 3: now Mike Bush was formerly the Chief Commissioner in New Zealand.
Speaker 3: It's an extraordinary search for this bloke. To bring us
Speaker 3: up to date. Is the Acting Deputy Commissioner Russell Barrett
Speaker 3: from Victor Tory Police. Good morning, Acting Deputy Commissioner.
Speaker 4: Good morning. Thanks for me. That's a mouthful, isn't it.
Speaker 2: We go with us.
Speaker 4: I think that's probably easier else.
Speaker 3: So where do we stand right now? What? What? What
Speaker 3: is the latest on this search? We saw some video
Speaker 3: video and some photos amazing on socials last night and
Speaker 3: on the news. It's an extraordinary search.
Speaker 4: Well, it is, and I think I think the the
Speaker 4: images actually give some some reality of what we're dealing with.
Speaker 4: To be there, like we all, I suppose unless you
Speaker 4: spent a lot of time up in that high country,
Speaker 4: if you think of it as pretty nice, nice land,
Speaker 4: which it is, but it's it's actually really rugg it's
Speaker 4: brain in some areas and really difficult places to search.
Speaker 4: So we had to search, I suppose, in terms of
Speaker 4: the operation that we've completed, we had to search a
Speaker 4: large area and we had to do it in one go.
Speaker 4: We couldn't do it in sweeps or in piecemeal approaches.
Speaker 4: We just couldn't through tactical reasons. So to achieve that
Speaker 4: we had to call on our technical friends from all
Speaker 4: different jurisdictions across the Australia and New Zealand, and we
Speaker 4: work with them all the time in training and to
Speaker 4: ensure because every now on again we need to support
Speaker 4: each other around there specialist people with really high skills
Speaker 4: and it's unusual though and in facts in how have
Speaker 4: you untraced and to actually call on everyone simultaneous.
Speaker 1: So you mentioned the search. It's still going correct in
Speaker 1: no way you guys are pulling back on numbers like
Speaker 1: you're going to continue until you find them.
Speaker 4: Yeah, look at the search is on going, is on
Speaker 4: going today, it continues the weekend. How the technical support
Speaker 4: that we got from other states and New Zealand has
Speaker 4: left us in some ways. We've still got some people
Speaker 4: still with helping Victoria. But if I onet going to seed,
Speaker 4: I was suppose that's for operational reasons. But yeah, the
Speaker 4: search continues. But the search is only one element of
Speaker 4: our investigation. I think that's a bit that it's a
Speaker 4: bit you can silly, and it's a bit that it's
Speaker 4: the visual bit that everyone's focused on this massive land
Speaker 4: search in the high country, But our investigation is much
Speaker 4: broader than that. This is this is a homicide investigation,
Speaker 4: and we're using all of our usual investigative techniques to
Speaker 4: try and establish freemans whereabouts and bring in before the courts.
Speaker 4: But it's a component of that is a massive ground search.
Speaker 2: Do you feel like you're getting closer, Well.
Speaker 4: I think we are. It will closest if you to vibe,
Speaker 4: but we're eliminating options and in terms of in terms
Speaker 4: of good practice employees that that that that moves us forward,
Speaker 4: and in terms of what we've done over the last
Speaker 4: in the end of last week and over the weekend,
Speaker 4: it enabled us to actually, you know, say to the community,
Speaker 4: you know, we can now have some level of conference
Speaker 4: that people can give return to that area. But the
Speaker 4: park is still closed and it's how I am our
Speaker 4: goal to get the park reopen. But we've got some
Speaker 4: more things we need to do before we get to
Speaker 4: that stage. But we need there's so many things we've
Speaker 4: got to work our way through in this investigation. It's
Speaker 4: not just investigation. We've got a community that you know,
Speaker 4: is reliant on on tourism and reliant on and on
Speaker 4: people going to the era, and and so we need
Speaker 4: to work with them to ensure their laws if it's
Speaker 4: aren't being impacted by what is a massive search.
Speaker 5: And how are the Victoria Police holding up because obviously
Speaker 5: this is a huge man hunt, but on.
Speaker 2: Top of it, there is a lot of emotion. You've
Speaker 2: lost two of your own.
Speaker 5: I know, I can't imagine how the force of feeling
Speaker 5: right now, but what what what is happening within Victoria Police?
Speaker 2: How is everyone h.
Speaker 4: Yeah, there's look, you know holding up well, you know,
Speaker 4: a lot of wealthare around people, and the around particularly
Speaker 4: you know, we've got people who know knew the two
Speaker 4: offices really really welcome and so you know, we've we've
Speaker 4: we've we've got a large chunking and say use the
Speaker 4: word engine. I'm not sure it's the right word, but
Speaker 4: you know in terms of, you know, a welfare engine
Speaker 4: that kicks and and we're really buoyed by the support
Speaker 4: from the community. Was kind of commenting on your message
Speaker 4: the day after, like you know that tribute you played
Speaker 4: or you know, wrote and read out on air, those
Speaker 4: sort of things really mean a lot. They let us
Speaker 4: know that, you know, the community with us, and we're
Speaker 4: seeing that and that really helps keep our members up
Speaker 4: and about and focused on en roll. They understand their
Speaker 4: role and they're very good at functions. But to know
Speaker 4: the community is supportive and people are feeling for them
Speaker 4: an emotionally is a huge thing for us.
Speaker 2: I'm glad.
Speaker 3: Can I ask you about and Look, I get that
Speaker 3: it's intel, so you don't want to, you know, dissect
Speaker 3: the investigation. Are you confident that this bloke is alive?
Speaker 3: Is there a chance he's dead?
Speaker 4: Look, I think we've said it probably for a while
Speaker 4: out I said it yesterday. We're open to all options
Speaker 4: in terms of an investigation. We don't eliminate any options
Speaker 4: until we're absolutely confident that they've gone So all the
Speaker 4: options are available. We still have a view and we're
Speaker 4: working on a view that he might be contained within
Speaker 4: the area, that he may be being harbored by somebody
Speaker 4: outside of the area for our search, or that he
Speaker 4: said all of those viable options that we're working to.
Speaker 4: We don't close our minds to any option. We just
Speaker 4: continue to work with a view that all of them
Speaker 4: are things we need to work our way through to
Speaker 4: establish the truth of them, or alternatively eliminates them as
Speaker 4: a viable option. At this stage, all of them are
Speaker 4: still on the table.
Speaker 1: Right and just quickly the one million dollar reward still
Speaker 1: in place.
Speaker 4: Yeah, absolutely, and you know we've we've.
Speaker 3: Had done on that scale. Yeah.
Speaker 4: And in terms of it for arrest, it's not. It's
Speaker 4: not for conviction, which is which is an unusual an
Speaker 4: unusual piece, but it's all we normally normally it's information
Speaker 4: leading to a conviction. But with what we're saying me
Speaker 4: is if you can give us information that leads him
Speaker 4: to be arrested, then there than the reward, then triggers.
Speaker 4: And we've had over twelve hundred different information reports come
Speaker 4: in now and we continue to get them. And we
Speaker 4: would say to any community member who has any information
Speaker 4: out there, please call us information.
Speaker 1: We need money.
Speaker 5: Too many time wasted with that though, people that think
Speaker 5: that oh we might you know, just put our case
Speaker 5: we get a cut of that. Yeah.
Speaker 4: Look, there's there's no doubt get we get information that
Speaker 4: isn't isn't valid or viable, but that we would we wouldn't.
Speaker 4: We wouldn't at this stage. I wouldn't encourage them not
Speaker 4: to ring in. Let us make the decisions around that
Speaker 4: because orderately, and I think you know it's important in
Speaker 4: terms of the conversation this week, well, now that we've
Speaker 4: said to people you can return to the high country.
Speaker 4: We'll have people who have holiday houses up there who
Speaker 4: haven't been there for a few weeks. In fact, with
Speaker 4: school holidays coming up, they're probably planning to up there.
Speaker 4: We need to know immediately they are right, if there's
Speaker 4: something not right, if they look and say, you know,
Speaker 4: someone has been here or someone because these pieces of
Speaker 4: information will help us that we don't have at the moment,
Speaker 4: and it might be the bit of information that leads
Speaker 4: us to somewhere else that leads us to his capture.
Speaker 3: And just finally, is it fair to say, Russell, you
Speaker 3: won't stop until you put a full stop on this. Yeah.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, our investigation and you know we will continue to
Speaker 4: reassess our operational deployment to this and and what is
Speaker 4: needed to actually achieve outcomes in the investigation. So there's
Speaker 4: no doubt that there will be a change in temper
Speaker 4: if we don't find him in search, because our ground
Speaker 4: search is only one element. But the actual investigation will
Speaker 4: not stop, and an investigation is far broader than just
Speaker 4: the ground search. And I can tell the community and
Speaker 4: tell you for him, and if he's listening, our resolve
Speaker 4: will not change. We will continue to investigate until we
Speaker 4: reach conclusion in this matter, until he's arrested and brought
Speaker 4: before the justice. I can guarantee that, God.
Speaker 1: Said Acting Deputy Commissioner Russell Barrett, joining us on the air.
Speaker 1: Hey Russell, good luck and great work you guys are doing. Mate.
Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks for joining us. We love Victoria.
Speaker 5: They're a big part of our show and our family
Speaker 5: here as well, so we're thinking of you all and
Speaker 5: we wish you all the very best.
Speaker 4: Thanks, thanks Russell, thank you, Thank you everyone.
Speaker 1: I'll tell you what a million bucks you know, if
Speaker 1: there are people trying to help him money talks.
Speaker 2: Oh, I sure hope.
Speaker 5: So you know, Yeah, it's it's just a terrible, terrible,
Speaker 5: terrible circumstance.
Speaker 2: So hopefully it's good sorted out.
Speaker 1: Tell you what's a good point what he said, like
Speaker 1: people returning to the holiday home. Yeah, you see something
Speaker 1: out of place.
Speaker 5: And also the community up there has suffered a lot
Speaker 5: through no fault of their own, so please get out
Speaker 5: and support small businesses, support where you can and try
Speaker 5: and help out us. With a woman on the news
Speaker 5: who owned cafe and she'd lost twenty thousand dollars in
Speaker 5: revenue over the last couple of weeks, so if you can,
Speaker 5: please support local businesses up there. Jason, Lauren Lauren wake
Speaker 5: up feeling good following them on the socials.