By Melissa Grant
Pakenham’s top traffic cop Nigel Atkins has seen it all, from foot patrols on Russell Street to ladies of the night and drug movements in St Kilda. Now the boy from Broady heads Cardinia Shire’s Traffic Management Unit with the mission to make Cardinia’s roads safer.
To see a soul destroyed on the side of the road or ripped apart in car wreckage – that affects everybody … the vision that I have in our office is to have a low road toll.
-Nigel Atkins
A LIFE-SIZE portrait weighing more than 35 kilograms adorns the entrance to Sergeant Nigel Atkins’ Kooweerup home.
He answers the door in a shirt and a pair of jeans, standing in front of the impressive oil painting that depicts him in police uniform.
There they are side by side: the devoted husband with a passion for motorbikes and a policeman with 30 years’ experience under his belt.
So who is the man behind the uniform?
Some, as Nigel explains, are quick to paint their own pictures of him.
“Some people call me over the top. I’ve been called cowboy-ish, Mad Max, Robo Cop, Terminator and a silly old fool,” he says.
But Nigel is quick to point out that while these perceptions are common among the public, and more so within, he is simply a man doing his job.
“I think what a lot of people don’t understand is the police are the public and the public are the police,” he said. “We are just people of the public getting remuneration as police to do work for the public.”
Since joining the police force 30 years ago, Nigel has worked all over Victoria – from walking the beat at Russell Street to monitoring “ladies of the night and the drug movement” on St Kilda’s streets.
He moved on from general police duties 17 years ago and became a “Toggy”, a member of the Traffic Operation Group at Frankston.
He made his way up the ranks when he was posted to Hastings and is now a Sergeant at Pakenham Police station where he heads the Traffic Management Unit (TMU).
Although the 55-year-old has found his calling, it hasn’t been an easy road.
“I’ve probably seen more deaths than a lot of people have had hot dinners,” Nigel said. “It doesn’t make me desensitised – each one I go to is different. Every individual, every soul is different. To see a soul destroyed on the side of the road or ripped apart in car wreckage – that affects everybody, not just the police but the paramedics and the CFA.”
While these collisions have tragic consequences, they make Nigel, a father and grandfather himself, even more determined to make the road safe – something that is always a challenge.
“Unfortunately you will always have your ‘Johnny Bananas’ and ‘Harry the Hoons’ out there who have a total disregard for the road rules,” Nigel said. “It’s disappointing to have to pull them up and take their licences away, but unfortunately that’s the consequences of their own actions.
“At day’s end, all of them are someone’s son or daughter that we have to deal with and, if we can prevent them from losing their life or becoming maimed for the rest of their life, then we’ve achieved our role.”
A yearning to “help out people” is what led Nigel to the join the police force. He grew up in what he describes as “raw environments” – first as a youngster in Papua New Guinea’s Madang province and later as a teen in Broadmeadows.
“My father was a chief fire officer … we moved there (PNG) when I was three months old. I didn’t own a pair of shoes until I was six,” he says with a laugh.
Nigel, who was born in Sydney, then moved to Launceston, Tasmania, with his family before settling in Broadmeadows in his early teens.
“It gave me a good foundation for policing,” he said.
Since leaving the western suburbs, Nigel has bumped into his former school friends only while on police duties.
“Friendships were lost because I chose to be a policeman and they chose the dark side of life. It was the best thing I ever did,” he said.
“Some of my friends ended up being customers, if that’s what you want to call it.”
Nigel had a short stint in the armed forces and worked in factories and the motor mechanic industry before signing up for the police academy at 23.
His motto “Strength and Honour” – words that appear in Victoria Police’s “identified values and intended behaviours” and on the life-sized portrait – has served him since he took the “oath of allegiance to almighty God to uphold the right” on 4 September 1978.
“They are very important words for the protection of life and assets. It’s what we apply out on the road,” he explained.
And protecting people and their belongings is a role that Nigel doesn’t take lightly.
“I also get called passionate. You can bandy that around, but I take my job seriously, not seriously enough to the extent where I come home and don’t rest and enjoy my life – I come home and switch off,” he said.
“But as soon as I go to work and put on that uniform I take it seriously.”
When out of his police uniform, Nigel enjoys taking to the road on his 1800cc motorbike, a 2007 Honda Gold Wing.
He started riding at 17 and is a member of the Blue Knights, an organisation consisting of active and retired law enforcers who enjoy taking to the road on motorcycles.
“It’s a good release to get up and get out … but very dangerous, too,” he said.
Nigel’s secondary interest is helping out his second wife, Sylvia – whom he married three years ago in police uniform – with her small business, Divna Art.
He helps build frames while Sylvia puts in the prints.
As for Nigel’s future, don’t mention the R word.
“Retirement can be talked about behind my back,” he said. “It seems like yesterday (he joined the force) – I still haven’t lost my zeal.
“I’m now 55 years of age and I’ve only just begun because there is too much unfinished business to do in relation to keeping the road safe.
“The vision that I have in our office (Cardinia) is to have a low road toll – and that vision I intend to achieve.”
