Nov 2000 Volume 81 Number 11 "serving the protectors"
Andy Dunn

Carrying Burdens

The bravery of Constables Richard Norris and Daryl Phillips (A Horror Movie Come to Life) is unquestioned. They abandoned all sense of self-preservation, while their singular purpose and unshakable determination saved two lives.

Fortunately, each emerged unscathed; and the presentation of medals appropriately recognized their actions.

But Norris spoke to the Police Journal of what he suspects will be his ever-lasting memory of the incident. And why wouldn’t the images he and Phillips saw lie perpetually in their sub-conscious minds?

How could the image of a baby covered in blood from a stab wound to his neck ever be erased from his rescuers’ memories?

Police - after witnessing such horror - face the same dilemma as do returned war veterans, who live with sometimes-torturous mental pictures of the battlefields on which they fought.

So, be it a shooting in the suburbs or wartime action on foreign soil, neither police nor soldiers can ever escape what their minds record - and the effect can be devastating.

Not every officer who carries a tragic image suffers anguish. Norris and Phillips have put their incident behind them and moved on successfully in work and in life.

But even for them, the images will remain. And perhaps the community should better understand that, in circumstances such as those Norris and Phillips faced, it is asking police to risk more than just their physical wellbeing.

The Police Journal congratulates Constables Norris and Phillips on their efforts and awards.

The Search

Constable Colleen Hilditch has herself suffered a burden in recent years (Search for the Cop Samaritan), but it is one of which she can, with help, be relieved. Unlike those who crave separation from parts of their pasts, Hilditch laments her lack of connection to a tragic time in her history.

The Police Journal was delighted to receive her call for help and tell her story. Any serving or retired police officer who worked the Gillman area in 1973 may remember the two-car, fatal collision.

But the Police Journal urges all who worked in that period to cast their minds back. The mystery policeman may even have been a mate to someone with whom he later shared the story of the accident.

Those with information should contact Brett Williams on 8231 0755. The Police Journal will keep readers informed of the outcome.

Happy To Help

The Police Journal is happy to publish a snippet of information that will save SApol magazine the trouble of printing a correction in its next issue.

In its August issue, SApol claimed that: “...urgent duty driving is a key component of the IMOST course” (Safety first for high risk incidents).

In truth, urgent-duty driving forms no part of the course.

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