Special Operations Group

by Christophe Glasl

A no-holds barred account of life in the elite police Special Operations Group, high on danger and adrenalin.

Chris Glasl joined Victoria Police at nineteen, with one aim in to become a member of the Special Operations Group. Ultra-fit and highly trained, the SOG are called to the most dangerous hostage situations, gunmen on the loose and risky mobile intercepts.

After going through an incredibly gruelling elimination process, Chris joined the SOG in 1994, thinking he was becoming part of a unit that was untouchable, indestructible and bonded so closely together they were a brotherhood like no other. He didn't find that brotherhood.

Instead, Chris experienced a unit rife with bullying, lies and betrayal. In combination with the dangerous missions they undertook and the pressure he experienced in each one, Chris needed a release valve, and he found it by taking drugs. It was the only way to switch off the adrenalin, to sleep at night, to get through his days. And those days involved fatal shootings, a triple murder, a 100-million-dollar drug bust and the Port Arthur massacre, to name just a few.

This is the ultimate insider account of what it takes to be one of the toughest police officers in the world, and the price it demands. It's a white-knuckle ride that you will never forget.

Genres: True Crime

300 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 13, 2024

Reviews

[Matt Talbot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting read - bought it for the perspective inside the group, and was surprised how brutally honest and vulnerable Glaz was when depicting his life. It really humanised him and his peers as more than just cops, as people with real struggles and flaws. That said, there are plenty of stories from all kinds of jobs that kept me hooked. Personally I would've liked it to be told in a more chronological way, to make more sense in my own brain, but the way he tells the stories as they link to key themes in his life makes for an interesting read. Have already recommended it to a couple mates in the job.

[READER VIEWS · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was carefully rolling up a fifty-dollar bill while looking at the line of coke.“

Well, that wasn’t what I was expecting for the first line in a memoir about Australia’s elite police unit known as SOG (Special Operations Group). I guess I expected it to start with a, um, bang—not a snort. That was the first clue that this was not going to be your average Type A, high-testosterone, mega-muscle chronicle. This is Christophe Glasl’s memoir, Special Operations Group. It’s gritty, raw, all too real, and at times even disconcerting.

Australia’s Special Operations Group came about at the hands of Chief Commissioner Mick Miller in 1977. It was considered the last resort for the Victoria Police, tasked with the apprehension of violent criminals, bomb threats, and domestic siege events, to name a few. Basically, any extreme police situation was turned over to this highly organized and well-trained group of men who made it their mission to be the biggest, strongest, baddest dogs in the junkyard.

Failure was not an option. There was no one else left if they failed.

Author Christophe Glasl earned his spot on the team in 1994 and served until 1998. These are his memories of the events that transpired during that time frame, including the infamous Port Arthur (Tasmania) massacre in which thirty-five people were killed and twenty-five were injured. No one who was there that day walked away without serious scars, whether visible or not.

As mentioned, I expected high-testosterone stories of shoot-outs and take-downs; of bad guys getting what they deserved at the hands of this elite group. Those stories are definitely here and told with the bold truth and occasional dark humor that only someone who witnessed the incidents from the SOG perspective could present. If you’re looking for hard take-down stories, you’ll find them.

But there’s so much more within these pages as Glasl reveals the soft underbelly of a system not necessarily equipped to handle teams of men who have been trained to the high standards of the SOG. Special operators from military units can attest to the same phenomenon, that there must be a balance when creating men whose sole responsibility is to get the job done at any cost. Without extremely good oversight and intervention, these well-trained, well-equipped forces can become prone to morally gray (at best) decisions that reflect their disdain for rules designed to keep them in check. Glasl isn’t afraid to show us this.

The level of honesty is amazing as the author describes drug-fueled orgies that some members of the team participated in. For some, drug or alcohol use was a way to deal with the stressors and intense memories that are standard issue for units with this degree of training. But the level of usage and common knowledge of this abuse surprised me. All of this is done, not with smooth prose and a raft of adjectives, but with the blunt, halting style of one friend opening up to another.

Two points must be made crystal clear: not everyone in SOG participated in these events, and the upper levels of management were unaware of these illegal happenings. The Special Operations Group should not be painted with a broad brush here, as many were there for the right reasons; because they were the best at what they did.

Special Operations Group by Christophe Glasl is more than just spec ops stories from an elite unit. It is introspective and profound, honest and startling as we share memories with a man who is learning to lighten the heavy load he’s carried for far too long. Readers who enjoy true crime stories combined with brutal honesty will find satisfaction here.