August 2001 Volume 82 Number 8 "serving the protectors"
Retired police honoured at Banquet
By John Ballantyne

More than 60 retiring police officers attended a special Police Association dinner held in their honour at the Adelaide Hilton in late June.

After guests took their seats in the hotel’s Banquet Room, the SA Police Band got the evening off to a rousing start with a variety of musical favourites.

Master-of-ceremonies, PASA secretary, Andy Dunn, spoke of the special importance of the evening’s ceremony.

“Tonight’s dinner,” he said, “affords us the special opportunity to recognize individuals who have served the public in a job which is arduous, exacting and often thankless - and a job that gets no easier with the passage of time.”

PASA president, Peter Alexander, in his welcoming remarks, reflected on the reported death that day of the second-to-last surviving Gallipoli veteran.

Mr Alexander said that, just as Australia commemorates its national traditions, “in our way, we maintain traditions in the police service.”

The annual dinner, he said, was part of a tradition “which goes back 60 years” and is one of PASA’s most important functions.

“Our retiring members have many years of combined experience between them,” he said. “This dinner is a further reminder of the nature of policing and what we unashamedly call the police family.”

Mr Alexander spoke of SA’s unique system of shared sick leave by which police acknowledge each other’s special needs and care for each other.

Police Commissioner Mal Hyde paid tribute to the retiring officers and praised the SA police service as “one of the premier organizations”.

Mr Hyde expressed his hope that those retiring would not lose contact with the service. He spoke of the World Police and Fire Games - the third largest sports event in the world after the Olympics - which is due to be held in Adelaide in 2007, and suggested that retired officers could share in the camaraderie of the games by volunteering as officials.

Mr Hyde concluded with wishes for a long, healthy and prosperous retirement.

Police Minister Robert Brokenshire spoke of the friends he had made among the police. However, he also acknowledged that “as the fabric of community is torn, so the work of police has become harder.”

He recalled how recently one of his colleagues had said to him in jest: “Aren’t you lucky you’re not the minister for police in New South Wales?”

To this Mr Brokenshire replied: “I’m privileged to be minister for the police of South Australia - the best in Australia, if not the world.”

Peter Graham, the chairman of the Police Credit Union - which supports the annual dinner - spoke of the continuing success story of the PCU.

The credit union has accumulated $250 million worth of assets, he said, and in the last three years has poured some $200,000 into various police causes, such as PASA and Police Expo.

Peter Alexander then made special presentations on behalf of PASA members to the 60 retiring police.

The recipients each said a few words about their careers and hopes for the future.

Alan (Blue) Headon spoke of the people whose humour made the job possible. He expressed his one regret: “We no longer see the characters who (used to) make up our job.”

Barry Lugg - who, after 44 years in the police, was the longest-serving member to be honoured that evening - said how much he enjoyed his job. “I would recommend it to any young person,” he said.

Elke Pfau, who joined SAPOL in 1970, was one of the first women police officers to join their male counterparts in operational police work.

On her first day in the job, she recalled being advised to remember three things: to keep her eyes open, her ears open and her mouth shut. “I did everything right,” she said, “except the third one.”

Her diverse career included serving as a police academy instructor, and working with the Rape Squad, Port Adelaide CIB, the Drug Squad and the now defunct Operations Response Group. In addition, she also served as president of both the Police Association of SA Women’s Branch and the International Police Association.

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