Charlie Bezzina
Charlie Bezzina was a Detective with Victoria Police in Australia.
Police Force
Detective Senior Sergeant Charlie Bezzina came from what his book publisher describes as “a sheltered childhood in a Maltese family in Melbourne's western suburbs to a widely respected senior detective who served Victoria Police with distinction and unquestioned integrity for 37 years, culminating in his acrimonious and highly controversial departure from the force”.
His autobiography The Job tells the full story of his extraordinary career. He served with the Victoria Police Force for 37 years, the last 17 as Head of the Homicide Squad. According to Engage, Issue 21, he was regarded as “a brilliant investigator who left no stone unturned and pursued murder suspects with a dogged determination”. After his resignation, he has continued working for The Herald and Weekly Times as a crime writer for The Herald Sun newspaper plus its online version, as a private investigator and as a public speaker.
Charlie completed several specialist courses following his basic training. He attended the detective training school, studied command and control and station management, undertook advanced skills and brief managers courses, as well as courses for sub-officers and criminal intelligence analysis. He completed an expert homicide certificate, and diplomas of fraud control, security, risk management and government investigations.
Awards and recognitions
- District Commendation for apprehension of 397 drug offenders in 1997 and 1998.
- District Commendation for exceptional performance in management, leadership and dedication in arresting heroin traffickers in 1997.
- Department Commendation in two operations in 2006 and 2007 leading to the arrests for murder, large drug trafficking and significant seizure of assets.
- Diligent and Ethical Service Medal.
- Three other service awards.
Published works and achievements
Charlie has written numerous journalistic articles on various topics such as cold cases, train passengers standing up to a racist ranting woman and siege negotiation. He has published The Job: Fighting Crime from the Front Line, which outlines his early life and cases investigated while with the homicide squad. Based on his police experience of over 37 years and his 25 years as a major crimes investigator, he has been able to maintain a high public profile. He is able to offer his services in private investigations, surveillance, training, corporate speaking, corporate security, fraud and crime prevention.
Charlie commanded investigations of over 300 murders and 150 suspicious deaths. Some of his most publicised investigations were the Mr Cruel abduction, the Wales/King society murders, cricketer David Hookes’ death, heart surgeon Victor Chang’s murder, the disappearances of model Jacqui Ramchen, and Sarah McDiarmid from Kananook station and gangster Alphonse Gangitano’s murder. Charlie resigned from the force in acrimonious circumstances in 2009. Former Chief Commissioner Simon Overland surprised and upset a lot of people when he decided to introduce a “rotation policy” and move senior figures, including Charlie Bezzina, out of the homicide squad. This resulted in immediate resignations.
Police Association secretary Greg Davies rued the loss of 80 years of homicide squad experience, and wondered whether that was a good thing for the people of Victoria. His expertise and detection skills will indeed be sorely missed by many of his colleagues. Engage, promoting his guest role at a Freemasons luncheon, spoke of him as affectionately being known as the best dressed detective in the crime squad, and more importantly lauding him as a brilliant investigator of broad experience.
Sources
- Engage, Issue 21, Freemasons Victoria, 2011
- Charlie Bezzina, The Job: Fighting Crime from the Frontline, Slattery Media Group, 2010
- Charlie Bezzina – Australia/Linkedin
- Overland defends police moves, The Age, December 2, 2009