Latitude 40 Podcast - Tony Power & Will Broadbridge

Policing on a small island can’t hide behind job titles. When everyone knows your name and your face, trust becomes the first tool you reach for, long before paperwork or penalties. On Flinders Island in Tasmania’s Furneaux Group two men have worn the same uniform in very different eras: former Senior Sergeant Tony Power and current Senior Constable Will Broadbridge.

Tony takes us back through the history of policing across the islands and the reality of a role shaped by necessity. We talk about the old days when the local officer might be called on as a surveyor, a health and food safety checker in the mutton birding sheds, an insurance assessor, a driving assessor, a tow truck driver, even a snake catcher. He shares the moments that stick and the ways officers used discretion to prevent harm in a remote community where backup isn’t just around the corner.

Will brings the modern perspective, starting with a chance meeting that pulls him into policing, then a “sliding doors” boat fire that launches a career in Sydney Water Police. He explains the marine training, what it takes to keep a vessel operationally ready, and how those skills matter on Bass Strait when towing, sea rescue and marine enforcement can all land in the same week. We also dig into life off-duty on Flinders Island, where there’s no anonymity, and why coaching, umpiring, and turning up for kids can be just as important as enforcement.

"Usually in policing, there's an anonymity attached to it. You put the uniform on, you go to work, but you take the uniform off and you're a normal person again when you go to the shop or you go and do the things that you want to do. But here you take the uniform off and people still know who you are. So it's twice as important to be trusted and engaged and form relationships with people. You know, you're part of this community..." Will Broadbridge