Leigh Smyth

If I said that being a Homicide Squad detective allowed me to meet so many wonderful individuals, people would consider me quite odd. But that has been my journey, from never even considering policing as a job, to making a lifelong career out of it, with 75% of that time investigating the most serious crime of homicide.

From my first murder scene, I learned the value of working for the victims who could not talk for themselves. And to make the worst possible day of someone’s life a little bit easier for those left behind is what drives me each and every day.

Of all victims, there is one particularly vulnerable group – something that I know from being a parent as well as attending far too many child deaths. My first ever child homicide was when I worked in uniform and the images of that silenced girl and the pain in her mother’s eyes is ingrained in my mind. No parent should have to bury their child, and neither should an innocent parent live with the stigma of having harmed them. Every child that dies deserves the right to have their death thoroughly investigated to exclude homicide or identify a perpetrator.

It is this passion to give a voice for the silenced, protection of the vulnerable, and answers for the survivors, that has led me to the Churchill Fellowship.  I hope to use this opportunity to develop best practice in the investigation of child deaths and construct a specialised and dedicated team within the Victoria Police Homicide Squad to achieve my goal. Success in achieving this goal will benefit all Australians by protecting the most vulnerable of us. The ultimate goal is that success in Victoria will flow to other Australian policing jurisdictions who can follow Victoria’s lead.