Vadim Dale

Vadim Dale was born 19 January 1976 to an Italian mother and Australian father. One of two sons of the family, Dale was born in Melbourne Australia. Dale attended the world-famous Geelong Grammar School where he was a live-in student from a very young age. Known for his athletic ability Dale was a swimming champion and excelled at all sports, nonetheless his interest in the outdoors became his passion. He was featured on the reality television show Outback Jack.

Following his appearance on Outback Jack, he moved to Louisville, Kentucky and married the contestant he fell in love with on the show, Natalie Franzman in September 2005.

Dale was chosen by People Magazine as one of their 50 Hottest Bachelors and was also featured in the 2007 issue of "The Worlds Hottest Men." He appeared on several TV shows worldwide: Miss Popularity, Celebrity Treasure Island: Couples at War and the New Zealand version of Survivor on which he and his wife Natalie came in third place. He has also been guest host on many Australian TV shows including the smash hit "Celebrity Circus" in which Dale starred, Star Struck, The Great Outdoors and Getaway to name a few. During Outback Jack, Dale toured the United States promoting the show for the network and featured on several US talk shows, among them Live with Regis and Kelly, Good Morning America, and Jimmy Kimmel Live!

After Dale and his wife settled in Louisville, he trained two German Shepherds as search and rescue dogs, and eventually began working with his dogs for FEMA and other Agencies at crime scenes alongside police officers. This sparked an interest in police work, and he entered the academy of the Louisville Metro Police Department in November 2009, graduating and becoming an officer in June 2010. He and his wife have three daughters, the youngest of whom was born while he was in the academy.

On 17 May 2012, while at the scene of possibly Louisville's most notorious shootouts, Dale shot a woman who, according to witnesses, shot and killed another woman near the intersection of 32nd Street and Greenwood Avenue in Louisville's West End. Dale shot the woman after she refused to comply with police commands to drop the gun, and pointed it towards police. Dale was placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure following an officer-involved shooting; the woman survived, and has been charged with murder and wanton endangerment. Those shootings came just over an hour after a quadruple shooting at the intersection of 32nd and Kentucky streets that left two men dead; and several other wounded; Dale was working that crime scene when the second incident occurred. The next night, on 18 May, Dale received the LMPD Distinguished Lifesaving Award at the department's annual awards banquet. He received the award for saving his young daughter's life performing CPR on her after she suffered a seizure just before Christmas 2011.

Counting his recent award, Dale has received 8 commendations, 1 medal of Valor and no disciplinary action. He is assigned to Louisville Metro Police Departments elite VIPER Unit. A 25-man operation created by Police Chief Steve Conrad in 2012 to tackle Louisville's most violent criminals.