Officer breaks cultural barrier

By Rebecca Fraser
A POLICEMAN from Casey has received a national multicultural award in recognition of his work with migrant communities.
Detective Leading Senior Constable Vincent Manno was recently named the Victorian winner of the Australia Police Multicultural Advisory Bureau Award.
The award is presented to police who help promote harmonious relationships between multicultural communities.
Since 1990, Det Lead Sen Const Manno has been heavily involved with the Victoria Police Soccer Club and uses the sport to help break down barriers and engage culturally and linguistically diverse communities.
Det Lead Sen Const Manno said he helped run coaching clinics across the state for those who could not readily access mainstream sport.
“They may face a lot of barriers such as registration fees and parental support or other factors may be stopping them from becoming involved,” he said.
He has travelled to regional areas such as Shepparton and Cobram as well as Broadmeadows and Hadfield to share his love of the game and promote ties between community and police.
This was the first time that Det Lead Sen Const Manno was nominated for the award and he said he was delighted.
He works for the Major Fraud Investigation Unit at Victoria Police headquarters but has lived in Casey for the past six years.
“I was very surprised to receive the award. I knew there were other nominations and a lot of people do a lot of great things in the community.”
Det Lead Sen Const Manno said many of the young women and men he worked with had a different perspective and understanding of police due to their different cultural backgrounds.
He said soccer and sport helped promote social inclusion, teamwork and friendship and through a joint initiative between Onsite Soccer, Victoria Police and the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court he had met many different people from all areas of life.
“Anyone, irrespective of their physical or mental capabilities, can play and soccer does bring all the different classes together.
“It really is a game that is played by most people in the world,” he said.
Det Lead Sen Const Manno said the police had to break down many barriers when working with youths and migrants because some had come from countries where there were very oppressive and brutal regimes.
He said the people he met at the soccer clinics had come from many places including Sudan, Iran, Somalia, Ethiopia, Bosnia, East Timor and Iraq.
“The police might have had a military background and they might have been abused either mentally or physically.
“Their perception of police is very different and it is hard to break down these impressions.
“Soccer and sport is a good vehicle to open up points of discussion and break down some of the barriers,” he said.