'The Special Operations Group are ultra-fit, highly trained officers brought in to do the jobs other police cannot. Since he was a nineteen-year-old recruit with Victoria Police, Chris Glasl aspired to join this elite group - the SOG were untouchable, indestructible and bonded so closely together they were a brotherhood like no other. But when Chris achieved his dream in 1994, the brotherhood he thought he was joining didn't exist.
'Special Operations Group is Chris's story of his life in the SOG - where solidarity, camaraderie and loyalties were undermined by bullying, bastardisation, drug use, lies and betrayal. It is a raw, behind-the-scenes look at what went on at the SOG, and a gripping account of major jobs he attended: fatal shootings, a triple murder, a 100-million-dollar drug bust and the Port Arthur massacre, to name just a few.
'For Chris, eventually the work, culture and his struggle with drugs and alcohol took its toll. This is a white-knuckle ride of a story as he tells it like it was and comes to grips with his past.'(Publication summary)
In July 2023, this memoir was pulled from sale after police raised questions about its accuracy: in particular, they noted that the author was not, as claimed in chapter 18, one of the Special Operations Group members sent to Port Arthur at the time of the massacre. The police spokesperson also indicated that there were doubts about other portions of the memoir.
Source: 'Hachette Withdraws Memoir after Police Raise Concerns about Accuracy', Books + Publishing, 11 July 2023. (https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2023/07/11/233965/hachette-withdraws-memoir-after-police-raise-concerns-about-accuracy/).
'Australian publisher Hachette has withdrawn from publication the memoir of a retired police officer, after concerns were raised about its accuracy. Christophe Glasl spent 16 years in Victoria Police before writing his tell-all memoir, Special Operations Group, named after the elite force he was a member of for four years.' (Introduction)
'Australian publisher Hachette has withdrawn from publication the memoir of a retired police officer, after concerns were raised about its accuracy. Christophe Glasl spent 16 years in Victoria Police before writing his tell-all memoir, Special Operations Group, named after the elite force he was a member of for four years.' (Introduction)
