Narelle Fraser has spent her career witnessing things most of us couldn’t even dream of. A member of the Victoria Police for over 27 years, Narelle has a wealth of stories that both shock and amaze, having worked on some of Australia’s most high profile investigations.

This Saturday night, Narelle will be sharing those stories as part of the Australian True Crime: Live special live event stream. Narelle provides a fascinating insight into the life of a Police Officer from a female perspective, with stories that will make you laugh, cry and shake your head in disbelief.

We caught up with Narelle for a Q&A which provides a glimpse of the incredible experience audiences can expect during the live stream event this Saturday night.

How does delivering the Narelle Fraser Conversations compare to your previous life as a detective?

There’s not quite as much at stake for the interviewee in one of these interviews to the ones I did as a Detective.

Dealing with criminals and victims in horrendously difficult circumstances would require communications skills that very few of us possess. What does it take to be such a strong communicator in this environment?

It takes patience, an understanding of human behaviour, empathy & the ability to recognise your biases & be able to put them aside.

What is it about your interviews that audiences find most interesting?

Maybe the fact I’m open & honest & not trying to be someone I’m not.

Is there a character or story that fascinates you the most out of all that you have done?

John Sharpe, aka the Mornington Monster, was an incredible job on so many levels. He’d never had any dealings with Police prior to this – a cleanskin as we call them. I’ve never been able to understand or comprehend how John Sharpe not only murdered his pregnant wife Anna, but how he murdered his little girl Gracie. I wouldn’t expand on how they died other than to say they both suffered terribly but little Gracie particularly suffered unimaginable pain & horror prior to finally relenting to the monster her father was. To witness John Sharpe’s interview where he describes what he did in detail, with little or no emotion, will stay with me forever.

And the search of the tip for them was an experience difficult to describe – I found Anna in a bag in the tip on the 10th day of the search & the following day we found little Gracie. It’s funny but I knew I’d find Anna – just an innate feeling I can’t describe any better than that. And when I did find her I couldn’t leave her. I sat with the bag in which I’d found Anna’s remains, waiting for crime scene to arrive & the Coroner’s Office to remove her. I couldn’t bear the thought of her being alone in the tip without anyone with her.

I’ve also witnessed unbelievable cruelty to innocent little children.

I’ve investigated many rapes where victims survived unimaginable terror & fear. I found it a privilege to sit with them, talk with them, comfort them & gain their confidence to the point we were able to compile a statement with enough information to identify & convict an offender.

There are also so many bizarre & unbelievable incidents I’ve attended, none more bizarre than attending a home where the person answering the door was a male crossdresser whom I recognised as a VicPol (serving) Sergeant. And yes, it was awkward! Or arresting a giant goanna, or the cow stampede or arresting a drug-crazed armed robber with the only thing I had on me at the time – my finger. Yep, he even pleaded with me not to shoot him. Yep…

Who is the one person you’d love to interview that you haven’t yet?

Whitney Houston (but that will never happen!), Dusty Martin. I’d also love to interview victims of crimes to learn where we as Police went wrong & what we could have done better rather than about the crime itself.

How would our police force be coping and adapting to the isolation world we are all in right now?

Victoria Police are no different to all of us – they would find it difficult to adapt, but they’d have to. I would think there would be frustration at members being pulled off tasks to check if people are home or not. I know they’d rather be checking on those at-risk in our community & helping them.

Australian True Crime: Live – In Conversation with Narelle Fraser and Ron Iddles will stream online at 8 pm AEST on Saturday 16 May. Tickets available from www.tegdainty.com