Shortcut: Being the head police officer during the Cabramatta heroin crisis

This is a "Shortcut" episode. It’s a shortened version of this week’s more detailed full episode, which is also available on our feed. 

Alan Leek is a retired member of the New South Wales Police Service, in which he served for 34 years. 

In the early 1990s, Alan was rewarded for his excellence in management. When he was made the head police officer in Cabramatta, it was at the time the largest heroin distribution point in the country, a growing political flashpoint and spiraling ever faster, out of control.

The unique set of challenges that beset Cabramatta from the late 1980s created a criminal and cultural misery unlike anything else Australia had seen at the time. And it was up to Alan to rally his troops and to pull the divided and traumatized community together behind them. 

Alan is now the author of several books, with his latest being "Rendezvous with Death". All of his titles can be found at Big Sky Publishing.

For Support: 

Lifeline  on 13 11 14

13 YARN on 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support phone line for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)

1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732

CREDITS:

Host: Meshel Laurie. You can find her on Instagram 

Guest: Alan Leek. His books can be found at Big Sky Publishing

Executive Producer/Editor: Matthew Tankard

This episode contains extra content from ABC Four Corners and Once Upon a Time in Cabramatta

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