I acknowledge your air of authority, Redcali and I don’t want to digress too much, but here goes.
There’s supposed to be a designated Community Liaison Officer in every police station in NSW but in practice that means the big, main stations not the minor ones. (For example, there is one at North Sydney and one at Chatswood but not at little old Mosman.)
My experience is these officers can be very understanding, caring and helpful if you can’t get help at the front desk.
A highly experienced, decorated Police Inspector told me how to get coppers to help you. Be unfailingly polite, but don’t be afraid to put your point across forcefully. Write down their name, make them take out their notebook and write stuff down. Insist on an Incident Report Number which, in my experience, they write on a little card. The Police Inspector said NO copper likes being the subject of a complaint so if you have to threaten that as a last resort, you’ll probably get their attention.
By the way, JimmT’s linked story is uncomfortably similar to our experience. A psychopath is a psychopath whether they’re in the USA or Australia.