After 27 years as a police officer, the last 15 of them as a detective working some of the highest profile cases in the country, Narelle Fraser hit the wall.
asserted
Fraser → work → wall
“I lost the best career in the world because I ignored the signs of mental illness,” she says.
asserted
she → lose → illness
But since she decided to start speaking publicly about the PTSD she suffered – and that she’s convinced many, if not most, of her fellow police endure – she has found a new one.
asserted
she → decide → one
“Completely out of nowhere, I became this accidental mental health advocate.”
asserted
I → become → ?
Fraser’s avocation began around 2017, when she went on the Australian True Crime podcast to talk about her experiences publicly for the first time.
asserted
she → begin → time
It has now stepped up a whole level with the imminent release of the documentary feature, The Policewoman, in which she rakes over the coals of some of those cases and the deep psychological impact they had on her.
asserted
they → step → her
Director Claire Pasvolsky heard the podcast while she was doing the dishes at home in Newtown, and was instantly captivated.
asserted
she → hear → Newtown
“She’s such a compelling storyteller,” she says of Fraser.
asserted
she → ’ → Fraser
“Narelle was putting herself into the position in her story as if it’s happening now, as herself, as the victim, even the perpetrator and the families.
asserted
it → put → victim
I don’t think I’d ever come across a better storyteller, and I started immediately seeing images in my mind.”
asserted
I → think → mind
When the episode reappeared on her feed a few months later, Pasvolsky took it as a sign.
asserted
Pasvolsky → reappear → sign
She reached out to Fraser, asking if she might be open to a chat.
uncertain
she → reach → chat
A month later, the pair was having coffee in Melbourne, bonding, and taking the first steps on what would ultimately be an eight-year journey to the screen.
asserted
what → have → screen
Along the way, Pasvolsky has made another documentary and a feature film, and written a PhD on the representation of stalkers in popular culture (“it was inspired by Narelle”, she says).
asserted
she → make → Narelle
It’s not that people weren’t interested, more that what they were interested in was not the story Pasvolsky and Fraser wanted to tell.
asserted
Pasvolsky → ’ → what
A US broadcaster saw enormous potential for a true crime procedural series based on the cases Fraser had worked, among them the Maria Korp murder and the case of “Mornington Monster” John Myles Sharpe, who killed his pregnant wife and their 20-month-old daughter with a speargun.
asserted
who → see → speargun
What they didn’t want was a focus on the toll of working those cases.
asserted
want → want → cases
“The feedback was, ‘oh, that’s a bit of a downer, we don’t really want that’,” Pasvolsky says.
asserted
Pasvolsky → ’ → that
To make the film they wanted, Pasvolsky had to largely self-fund it.
asserted
Pasvolsky → make → it
She also had to rope in her entire family, too.
asserted
She → have → family
Husband Steve shot much of it, produced and edited, using a $350 3D printer; 15-year-old son Teddy made the small dolls used for most of the recreations, painting them by hand.
asserted
Teddy → shoot → hand
A scene in which Fraser was talking while driving was shot by Felix, who is 14, from the back seat; 17-year-old Luca, who wrote his first screenplay aged 11, helped out with the re-enactments.
asserted
who → talk → enactments
And in the handful of Q&A screenings around the country ahead of its national release on Thursday, it has struck a chord.
asserted
it → strike → chord
Serving and former officers alike have reached out to Fraser, all around the country, in a volume that has taken her entirely by surprise.
asserted
that → serve → surprise
“To be honest, I actually can’t keep up,” says Fraser.
asserted
Fraser → keep → ?
It’s hitting the note that I wanted to hit.”
asserted
I → hit → that
Fraser talks in the film about the moment she snapped.
asserted
she → talk → moment
A young woman came into the station on a Friday night to report that she’d been sexually assaulted, and the detective’s well of empathy had simply run dry.
asserted
well → come → empathy
“I just remember thinking I couldn’t give a f---, and that’s not like me,” she says.
asserted
she → remember → me
“I didn’t want to hear it.
asserted
I → want → it
I could not listen to one more person telling me about being sexually assaulted or just anything.
uncertain
person → listen → me
I couldn’t deal with it.
asserted
I → deal → it
And that’s when I realised …
asserted
I → ’ → ?
I better go and see someone.”
asserted
I → go → someone
On Monday, she went to see a psychologist, who told her she was ill and needed time off.
asserted
she → go → time
She resisted, but ultimately accepted something had to change.
asserted
something → resist → ?
“And I never set foot inside a police station again.”
asserted
I → set → station
Fraser bears no ill will towards the career she chose.
asserted
she → bear → career
In fact, she says in the movie that if a friend’s child came to her, saying they were thinking of joining, she’d thoroughly endorse that choice.
asserted
she → say → choice
But more needs to happen at the management level to acknowledge that trauma is commonplace, and people need to be supported through it.
asserted
people → happen → it
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
