CONSTABLE Tim McKerracher decided he wanted to be a policeman while he was still at primary school.

Now 26, the Footscray police officer was proud to receive an award recognising his dedication to the job at an awards ceremony for the western suburbs police division, held last week at the Maribyrnong City Council offices.

Along with seven other police officers from the station, he received a regional commendation for a six-month-long drugs operation that concluded in July and resulted more than 600 criminal charges being laid.

The operation netted 13 offenders and also seized more than $1.3 million in assets.

Const McKerracher said he and the other officers worked up to an extra 20 hours per week throughout the operation, but the resulting arrests were worth the effort.

“At the end of the day, we always want to catch the bad guys,” Const McKerracher said.

He said being a policeman was not like on television shows where cases get wrapped up in one-hour episodes, as demonstrated by the surveill-ance and investigation he and the other officers carried out across half the year.

“We can’t tap people’s phone conversations or get evidence as quickly in the real world. There is a lot of waiting around waiting for things to happen,” he said.

@BT Bold Normal ST:However, Const McKerracher said his work could often put him in hazardous situations, such as at a car accident, burglary or domestic violence incident.

-Alesha Capone