Watching the Detectives

Watching the Detectives

After years of being subjected to the worst the NSW Police Force could offer, Deborah Locke decided to blow the whistle on her crooked colleagues. The fallout from this decision would see Sydney's seedy and violent criminal underbelly exposed and a community brought to its knees.

Watching the Detectives is an in-depth exploration of the dark world of Sydney as experienced by one of the city's finest. While Deborah's journey is played out on television screens nationwide - as the young and beautiful Deborah Webb on the hugely popular Underbelly series - gain further insight into her life through this remarkable exposé.

During her first year as a police officer, Deborah was introduced to the dark circle of police corruption in Sydney's underworld. Bribery, substance abuse and sexual harassment were commonplace - the lines between cops and crims were blurred … Watching the Detectives is the story of a gutsy young woman who stayed true to what she believed in - no matter the cost.

Deborah Locke is a former NSW Police Detective. As a result of her prominent public role in establishing the Wood Royal Commission, her expertise is often sought both as a guest speaker and as a media commentator on matters relating to police corruption and the treatment of whistleblowers. She lives in Sydney with her husband, Greg, and their three children.

Watching the Detectives
Harper Collins Publishers
Author: Deborah Locke
ISBN: 9780733327964
Price: $27.99

Interview with Deborah Locke

Have you been watching Underbelly: The Golden Mile?

Deborah Locke: Yes! I sold my book to them and I consulted as well.


How similar are you to the character you are based on, Deborah Webb?

Deborah Locke: Same name, my name. Deborah Webb and then I got married and now I am Deborah Locke. Cheree Cassidy plays my character and she nailed it, really well. We spent a lot of time together and she had photos of me up on her wall. Cheree perfected the voice and my mannerisms by channeling me, she got it all right. We are working together on a project now.

It was a lot worse than what they have shown on Underbelly, it has to be sanitised for television. Many of the things that happened were a lot worse than is shown.

What are you and Cheree Cassidy doing together?

Deborah Locke: We are working together with young Aboriginal kids.


You exposed the violent and criminal underbelly in the Sydney community, ultimately changing Kings Cross which places you at hero status, how does this make you feel?

Deborah Locke: Very proud, at the time I was a villain, there were a lot of people who were angry. We had approximately 19 people arrested, 19 people committed suicide and 380 police walked and gave up their pension, because they were corrupt. There were a lot of angry people and I feared for my life before John Hatton got the Royal Commission at Parliament House. He only won the commission by one vote; the three independents had the balance of power, which is why it took twenty years to get the Royal Commission. Unfortunately, when we went to Parliament House he only had my statutory declaration, no other police officers were prepared to do it, and they were all scared that they were going to be killed. Even those who had actively said that corruption was terrible still would not support John. I was the only Police Officer, the only information on current corruption that he had.

No one else was brave enough, they just pushed me and pushed me and pushed me. Because I am a woman and I was in the first wave of female detectives I don't think they knew what to do. I had come from a tough bikey background and I kept getting up, every time they knocked me down, I'd get back up. I had a miscarriage and lost a baby girl and I think that's when I thought 'you are going to pay'. They were horrendous what they did to me when I fell pregnant.


After exposing the bribery, substance abuse and sexual harassment in the Sydney Police Force how hard was it for you to return to work, daily?

Deborah Locke: It was horrendous, just awful. I had earlier been with the Gotcha Cars with Michael Drury, for two years. I was there, in hiding, because they were scared that other police were going to kill me. Michael was shot through his kitchen window, in front of his wife and little girl. They put the two of us, who were targets from corrupt police together, in the old CIB building. We were sitting ducks.

After that I didn't work for fifteen years; I have only been working the last five. Greg and I were stuck in a corner rocking. Although, I am one of the most successful whistleblowers in Australia because I am still married and I am enjoying my kids whilst being a part of society and giving back. I think it is very important to give and I am working with homeless people, which is really important. I am functioning now and it took me a long time to get through the depression. I have post-dramatic stress.


Would you ever, now, return to the Police Force?

Deborah Locke: No, they cannot guarantee my safety, because of corrupt police. There is always corruption in all society; the trouble with police is that they have guns and power, the corruption is a lot worse. It is very frightening and it goes up and down, it certainly went down after the Royal Commission.

I have a website www.deborahlocke.com.au and I have police officers, from all over Australia, contacting me with information about corruption, it is really scary and sad. It is a sad situation.


Underbelly: The Golden Mile shows Greg as a very supportive husband, how important was it to have that support during the Wood Royal Commission?

Deborah Locke: It was huge, he was watching my back. I'm a very loud person and his a very quite person, he actually stayed in the police force a little bit longer, he went into the undercover drug squad and Michael Drury took him under his wing, but Greg was worried that if they killed or hurt him that it would be worse being the wife of an active police man still. Greg lasted a few more years before he had a major breakdown, it got too much for him. The treatment he received was horrible. People kept asking him "can't you control you bloody wife?" Greg received a lot of anger towards him.
Greg is a very supportive husband then and now twenty years later we are still married with three kids in the suburbs.


Can you tell us a little bit about Watching the Detectives and what made you decide to write Watching the Detectives?

Deborah Locke: It was released in 2003 and I go into the story a lot deeper in the book.

I wrote it as part of the healing process also to get it out there for my own protection. I was offered to change my name and run to another state, but we would have died. I keep a high profile to stay safe. Selling the book to Underbelly, which has gone world-wide on a 13-week series is even more protection. I had no choice, but to get involved in Underbelly.


What made you originally join the police force?

Deborah Locke: I think I wanted to better myself. My grandfather rode a Harley and my uncles were bikies, I was a third-generation bikie. Girls from good families rebel and take drugs and play up and I joined the New South Wales police that really upset them, I was rebelling against my family. I should have been at the Cross.

Kim Hollingsworth came from a police background, her father was a police sergeant and she ended up a prostitute at the Cross. We both came from different backgrounds and we both rebelled against our backgrounds.


Do you still speak to Kim Hollingsworth?

Deborah Locke: They sacked Kim for being a prostitute. It was all right all the blokes that went there, but what it really was is that she had given evidence, about senior police for the Wood Royal Commission, which is what ended it for her; they weren't worried about her being a prostitute, until she began talking to the Wood Royal Commission. Kim is a very strong woman who would have been such an asset to the police force.

Back in those days when there wasn't many women even now the police force is a very male-dominated job. It's not just the police; it's the Army, Navy and the Air force, all the forces. There is a lot of discrimination and sexual harassment for women and there shouldn't be. It is crazy.

Kim and I have both got over our trauma. We are good mates, I speak to her daily. We have to support each other because we are the only two in this boat; we are going through this journey, 13 weeks of Underbelly together. We are talking nearly every day because of our lives at the moment; we have people that are saying really nice things to us, which is fantastic, people get it now. But also there is a lot of angry police who we crossed, who would like to see us dead.

Kim is very successful now, she gives back, and she helps horses. We both think you have to give in this life, karma and the ying yang; the more you give out the more you get back. We both are doing good work, work to help people. We're in the light and we are very positive.


What are you doing now?

Deborah Locke: I work at a women's refuge, it's the oldest one in Australia and I work with Aboriginal youth, street kids, the homeless, young parents and women and children who are victims of domestic violence. It is good work; we have 25% Aboriginal cliental.If anyone is suffering from domestic violence, please visit this website: www.womensrefuge.org

How long have you been involved with this work?

Deborah Locke: For five years.