"It's the job you do,'' Senior Constable Richard Walter, 40, of Narre Warren South, said last week.

"I'm sure anyone else would have had a bit of a go like I did.''

On August 6 last year, the father of two was confronted with the heart-pounding decision of whether to risk his own life by grabbing an aggressive, suicidal man already starting to topple off a ninemetre-high overpass.

Senior Constable Walter chose to dive forward and save the man, who had let go and was beginning to fall from the Westall Road overpass, at the border of Springvale and Clayton South.

If either man had dropped to the hard surface below, they would almost certainly have died or been seriously injured.

Senior Constable Walter's bravery was recognised in front of 1000 onlookers at a ceremony at the Police Academy on July 18 when he was presented with a Chief Commissioner's Commendation for "conspicuous courage and decisive action''.

He joined the force just eight years ago, starting out at the Pakenham station before transferring to Dandenong in 2002.

Now based in the Dandenong traffic management unit, he is reminded of the dramatic rescue weekly when he drives across the overpass.

"Every time I drive over the bridge it flashes back,'' he said.

"When I got him into the ambulance I noticed my hands were shaking and the `what ifs' were happening to me.

"What if he had dragged me over or what if I had accidentally pushed him over while trying to grab him?''

Senior Constable Walter said that while he appreciated being personally recognised by Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon: "I was probably a little bit embarrassed about the whole thing''.

Asked whether he would risk his life on the job if a similar scenario arose he replied: "I probably wouldn't think, I'd just do it''.