Careers worthy of accolades
The police retirees who gathered at the Radisson Playford for
the Police Association dinner to honour retiring members in June formed a truly
esteemed group. But that came as no surprise. Just consider all they had given
as a collective over the previous 40-plus years.
It amounted to several hundred years’ service, through
which they had protected their communities, practised loyalty to their employer
and always looked out for their colleagues.
As revealed in PASA honours retiring members, they had
pioneered new techniques in policing, solved baffling major crimes and rolled
with law enforcement’s endless tide of change.
Those who faced the lure of alternative careers remained ever
committed to police service.
And that service never came easy. Through the years from the
1960s, they faced all the dangers that lurked on the streets, fought the bodily
impact of shiftwork and, sadly, sacrificed precious time with their partners
and families.
So, by necessity, the practice of sacrifice became a long-time
companion of every officer’s family. Ironically, while their loved ones
stood, in some respects, deprived, others in society became the beneficiaries
of their input.
The June 27 dinner was a fitting tribute to these retired
cops, whom the soft of heart might have rightly described as a saintly brigade
of servants for the common good.
Fortunate to open proceedings at the dinner, I compared the
retirees’ closing careers with those which, for new recruits I saw only
days earlier, were just beginning. To those soon-to-be operational police, I
thought, no better examples existed than the 48 former cops assembled for their
send-off at the Radisson.
All will remain members of that most valuable of institutions,
the police family.
Another charitable effort
Yet again, the selflessness of SA police has come to the fore
– this time through the pending charitable works of Sgt Tania Radis
(Operation Cycle Cambodia).
How many of today’s “me” society would remain
as cheerful as she has about giving up their leave, and themselves actually
paying to raise money for the severely under-privileged?
And if these prerequisites did not dissuade most, what about
the prospect of tackling such a bike ride in the heat, dust and danger of a
foreign country?
No doubt Sgt Radis takes her generosity to Cambodia with the
support and best wishes of her colleagues, and the wider SA
community.
