Wodonga policeman Cameron Roberts calls time on career of more than 40 years

Sergeant Cameron Roberts clocked on for his final shift on Friday, having joined the force as a cadet in January 1980.

After a career that has seen him attend countless fatal crashes, a riot, bushfires, prison escapes and car chases, he decided it was time for retirement.

"It's been brilliant," he said of the job, most of which has been spent in road policing.

"A lot of it's been absolutely fantastic.

"Sometimes you think you're getting paid too much but the other small percentage of the job, you think they can't pay me enough.

"After a while your bin gets full.

"I think if I look after myself there's a lot of retirement time out there.

"There's a bit of time to chill out and think about what I'll do next."

Sergeant Roberts signed up to the force after thinking the work would be interesting.

He saw it as a chance to do something constructive and make an impact on people's lives.

Road policing was a particular passion given the ability to change behaviours and make a difference.

"You can have a constructive influence," he said.

"A lot of it isn't measurable.

"Road safety is something that impacts everybody, not just certain walks of the community.

"That's the sort of thing I wanted to have an impact on."

Sergeant Roberts worked in Melbourne before moving to Wangaratta in 1994, then working in Seymour and Wodonga.

A great deal has changed since he joined, with the force using typewriters with carbon paper when he started.

The use of electronic typewriters was seen as a major step forward, followed by the introduction of computers.

Sergeant Roberts helped to start cross border operations with Albury officers in the late 1990s, which would see police from both forces working from the same vehicle.

Memorable jobs include his involvement in the search for Pavel "Mad Max" Marinof, who was one of the state's most wanted in 1986.

Marinof shot multiple police members before being killed by officers during a shoot out after they pulled over his car.

Sergeant Roberts was also called to a fight at a Ringwood hotel for a wake following a murder in the 1980s, which turned into "a full-on riot".

He has worked through fires, floods and major crashes, and played a significant rebuilding role after the 2019/20 Upper Murray bushfires in his volunteer work with Rotary.

"I joined Rotary to do something constructive and will continue to do that," he said.

"We helped organise fencing for volunteers and had a group of guys up there while we organised feeding them and organising camping spots for hundreds of volunteers.

"It was enormous.

"Volunteers came out of the woodwork and people travelled hundreds of kilometres to be part of the crew.

"It was amazing to watch."

Sergeant Roberts said while policing now had a heavily bureaucratic aspect to the job, with extensive paperwork and less hands-on work, he said he couldn't speak highly enough of the organisation and would recommend the job to others.

"I realised the time was right to retire," he said.

His colleagues planned a small send-off at the station on Friday.

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