April 2002 Volume 83 Number 4 "serving the protectors"

Dear Andy

Please accept my resignation from the Police Association, due to my retirement from SAPOL. My last day of service was February 8, 2002.

Best wishes to all members.
Yours faithfully
Keith R Walker 2693/6
(Ex-A901/910)

Dear Andy

I wish to cancel my membership with the Police Association due to my resignation from SAPOL, my last day of service being Wednesday, February 20, 2002. At first I wasn’t sure if I wanted to “share” my feelings of the last 12 years in the job, but finally came to the conclusion that this would be the last chance I would have to thank some people who have meant a great deal to me and also clean the “emotional cobwebs” out once and for all.

Firstly, I say thank you to the following people, whom I feel the need to thank personally for not only their friendship, loyalty and integrity, but also the valuable lessons in life they have taught me and the inspiration they have given to help me become the person I am today. There will always be a spot reserved for them by my campfire.

Thank you, Peter Schumaker, the most wonderful sergeant anyone could hope to have. Your guidance, kindness, patience, understanding, friendship and “dadship” are worth more to me than you will ever know. You are an absolute legend and a true gentleman and it was an honour to serve in the BA unit with you.

Thank you, Silvio Belotti, the greatest senior sergeant to ever walk the earth. Although I only spent a short time at the Gully, you were a great inspiration to me and are a man of great character and integrity, one whom I will always admire and remember.

Thank you, Dave Smith, Rob Cummings and Jim Whimpress (Tea Tree Gully patrols), Brian Neely (Adelaide patrols), Viv Savron and Wayne Thompson (ORG), Phil Vincent, Mark Ager and Paul Taggart (academy), Skip Scanlan and Ian Ritchie (BA unit), Scott Benton, Al Laming, Tony Holasek, Broni Stevens, Danni Hannaford, Steve Borgardt, John Payne, Paul Adams, Tim Lyas, Traci Archer, Sam Massey, Carol Marr, Srea Meas, Lee Williams, Russ “Top Gun” Burr, Shane “Rated” Byrne, Mark “Machine” Seidel, Brett “Big Daddy Ugghh” Lewis and Mike “Lowry” Newbury (ComCen). You guys have been my salvation. Without your comradeship and great humour this job would have lost its meaning a long time ago. You people are the reason this department stays afloat.

I also thank a few of the foot soldiers out there who only know me as “the female comms operator with the Victorian accent”. Thank you to Seamus McDaid and Rod Parsons (Sturt patrols), Mick Butler (Parks patrols) and Andrew Murphy (Elizabeth patrols). I don’t know you guys from a bar of soap, but I know you are all damn good vixens backed up by a fantastic team of workers who are always eager and polite, an absolute pleasure to work with over the radio. If anyone from SEG has read thus far, these are the guys you should be handing key positions to, not those who are willing to sacrifice their young just to get a promotion.

The final thank you goes out to those people in the department who have managed to somehow confuse me with a piece of gum that was attached to the sole of their shoe. I thank these people not for their lack of work ethic or for allowing me the honour to carry their load, but purely and simply because they are the ones who helped me realize I deserved something better. Sadly, I feel my memory of them will soon fade.

For those curious as to what the future now holds for me, I intend to buy my dream – a 20-acre property fit for horses, dogs, fishing, yabbying and trail-riding. Give me a couple of years to set things up, then, by all means drop me an e-mail and come and check out the “dream”. In the meantime, I wish all those hard-working members of SAPOL the very best for the future. You do a grand job and I hope that you all get the recognition you deserve.
Follow your dreams
Simone Byrne
Constable 2250/9
(E-mail – equinepoet@lycos.com)

Dear Andy

I am leaving the South Australian police department and moving my family to Queensland, my last date of active service will be on Wednesday, February 27, 2002.

I have only been with the police department for two years and have been on general patrols in Adelaide. I express my thanks to team one at Adelaide. If it is a representation of the quality of people within SAPOL, then perhaps there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Cheers
DS Henley

Dear Andy

Having been restructured twice (by “experts”), I’ve decided to restructure again – this time on my own terms. Consequently, I tender my resignation from the Police Association with effect from my last day of service – March 6, 2002.

Taking early-age retirement due to war-service-related disabilities was not an easy decision to make, but no doubt the change in lifestyle will be well worth it. I’ve enjoyed all my postings over nearly 38 years with SAPOL – the city, Elizabeth, Tailem Bend, Karoonda, Organizational Services, Media Liaison and Recruiting. It’s amazing just how quickly those years have flown. I see it as significant that, when I joined the job, the Angas St building was under construction, and it has been demolished the year I leave.

I could write reams about the job and management styles, etc. Instead, perhaps we could just ponder an interview I saw with Sir Richard Branson, head of the Virgin empire. He was asked what his principles were in a successful business. He replied:
• firstly, one had to look after the employees, make them want to come to work for you;
• secondly, look after the clients and customers, and if No. 1 is working that will happen;
• thirdly, look after the shareholders. If the first two are right, then that will follow.

I’ll leave it to you to determine where SAPOL stands.

Thank you, Andy and President Peter Alexander, for your assistance over the years, not just to me, but to all members. I am one of the ancients who remember the pre-award days and how we were treated then. Never let us return to those dark ages in the name of “enterprise bargaining”.

Over the years, I’ve seen administrations come and go, each one “re-arranging the deck chairs”. Police ministers and governments also change, but the skill of “coppering” doesn’t change. It is still a people-oriented profession, which makes the job so attractive. Support services have changed dramatically, and should continue to do so, but the pride in the job relates to our dealings with people.

It’s been a great job, a worthwhile one and, as I go off into the sunset, I wish all members well in the future, especially those just starting.

Thanks for the memories.
Mick Symonds
Senior Sergeant 1216/8
EMR

Dear Andy

Please accept my resignation from the Police Association of SA due to my resignation from SAPOL as of March 6, 2002.

I have been offered an opportunity to work as a theatre nurse in my previous profession, an offer too good to refuse.

I thank the many people I have worked with over the past two years. I have gained valuable experience and have made many life-long friendships from my experiences in SAPOL.

I wish everyone good health and happiness for the future.
Kellie Vanables
Constable 4862/0
Salisbury Patrols

Dear Andy

Thursday April 18, 2002, will be my first day of retirement from SAPOL and, as such, please accept this letter as notification of resignation from the Police Association.

I have during my 34-plus years been a member of the “wandering brigade” and have not served time in any one place longer than six years. The vast majority of my career has been served in the country areas and the locations have certainly varied. My family, consisting of my lovely and dear wife, Julie, and our three offspring, Samuel, Kristyn and Lauri, have weathered the constant moves and certainly were part of the police family in all the locations and always a great support especially in trying conditions.

I thank SAPOL both in its past and present form for having allowed me to travel throughout the great expanse of the great state and to get a taste of different communities and living styles.

My rewards for having been a serving member of SAPOL are varied but most memorable of all are course 23 and all its members and mentors and all the members who I have served with over the years, thanks for being part of my life.

My “use-by date” is up and it’s time to go.

The very best of luck to all with whom I have struck up a friendship over the years and I hope the future goes well for you.

Goodbye, and, if you have the time and energy, look Julie and myself up in Renmark. You will be most welcome.
Regards
Reimer Bruno ANDT
formerly Senior Constable 23/3

Letters of withdrawal of Police Association membership should be addressed to PASA secretary, Andy Dunn, at:

• Police Association of SA,
  PO Box 6032, Halifax St,
  Adelaide, SA 5000
• secretary@pasa.asn.au
• Police Association 168 (internal dispatch)

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