Former Northern Territory police officer Ben Schultz still remembers the words he used to confront a domestic violence abuser.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look at her sideways \u2026 she\u2019s going to call me and I\u2019m going to destroy your life.\u201d<\/p>\n
The blunt warning, delivered after months of psychological abuse against a terrified woman, remains one of the proudest moments of his policing career.<\/p>\n
Mr Schultz shared the moment with news.com.au alongside former detective sergeant Damien Barbe. Together, the pair co-host the Two Ordinary Cops podcast.<\/p>\n
Rather than busting down doors or high-speed pursuits, both men said the policing moments that stayed with them most were those where they simply helped people in need.<\/p>\n
Mr Schultz joined Northern Territory Police in 2007 before serving across Katherine, in remote Aboriginal communities and specialist domestic violence roles.<\/p>\n
He said one case involved a woman who reluctantly walked into a police station after enduring psychological abuse from her partner.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was no real physical violence there, it was all psychological,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe didn\u2019t want to be with him anymore, it had just gotten to that point.\u201d<\/p>\n
After listening to her give an explanation of the relationship, Mr Schultz laid out her options, including applying for a domestic violence order.<\/p>\n
Instead of relief, the woman burst into tears.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said, \u2018What\u2019s wrong?\u2019 and she said, \u2018I didn\u2019t think you\u2019d believe me\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Schultz said her partner had convinced her nobody would ever believe her account.<\/p>\n
After examining the man\u2019s background, Mr Schultz said he discovered previous partners had raised similar concerns, but there was insufficient evidence to pursue criminal charges.<\/p>\n
At the time, coercive control laws did not exist in the Northern Territory and the woman did not want to proceed with formal domestic violence action.<\/p>\n
So Mr Schultz took a different approach.<\/p>\n
Accompanied by a junior officer, he confronted the man directly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said, \u2018Mate, this is how it\u2019s going to go\u2019,\u201d Mr Schultz recalled.<\/p>\n
He warned the allegations would remain recorded on police systems and told him the woman wanted nothing more to do with him.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look at her sideways and she\u2019s at all distressed in any way, she\u2019s going to call me and I\u2019m going to destroy your life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll bring down everything. Fire and brimstone. Everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Schultz said he also contacted managers within the education sector where both worked so they could alert police to any further concerns.<\/p>\n
Six months later, the woman returned to the station with flowers for the junior officer who had first spoken with her.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe came out a completely different person and was extremely thankful for the way the police dealt with it,\u201d Mr Schultz said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are the good stories the public don\u2019t hear.\u201d<\/p>\n
He acknowledged some people may question how the matter was handled, but said officers had worked within the legal framework available at the time.<\/p>\n
Another moment Mr Schultz said remains close to his heart came while stationed on remote Croker Island early in his career.<\/p>\n
Drawing on a decade working as a commercial fisherman before joining the police, Mr Schultz organised the rescue of stranded French sailor Regis Orand after hearing a distress call over marine radio.<\/p>\n
Unable to immediately secure official resources, he co-ordinated a local commercial vessel, organised fuel and led the operation himself, towing the exhausted sailor \u2014 who had gone days without food and was running low on water \u2014 safely back to shore.<\/p>\n
He later received praise from senior police officials, but insists luck also played a part.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just lucky the conditions were good,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
For Mr Barbe, however, his proudest policing moment came after tragedy.<\/p>\n
The former detective, who served across Katherine, Tennant Creek, Borroloola, Alice Springs and Darwin during a career covering major crime, domestic violence, coronial investigations and Strike Force Trident, recalled investigating the deaths of German tourists Gisela and Wilfred Thor in 2017.<\/p>\n
The retired couple died from exposure after becoming lost while walking in Trephina Gorge, east of Alice Springs, during a holiday in Australia. Their deaths prompted a massive land and air search before both bodies were eventually located.<\/p>\n
Mr Barbe, who was the coronial investigator on the case, said the investigation was emotionally confronting.<\/p>\n
When the couple\u2019s family travelled from Germany for the coronial proceedings, he and fellow officers decided to go beyond their official duties.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was no requirement for us to be there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we just felt the need to look after these guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
The officers sat with the family throughout the coronial process, explained the Australian legal system, took them to dinner and made themselves available for the family before they returned home.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to make sure the experience in Australia wasn\u2019t just, \u2018My parents went to Alice Springs and died\u2019,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a tragedy involved, but we wanted them to know they were treated really well.\u201d<\/p>\n
The family\u2019s appreciation eventually resulted in Mr Barbe receiving an Assistant Commissioner\u2019s Commendation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI look back and I am very proud of that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was nothing to do with policing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just to do with looking after people.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Northern Territory police officer Ben Schultz still remembers the words he used to confront a domestic 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