Dear Andy
Please accept my resignation from the Police Association of SA effective
August 2, 2003, which is my last day of service due to my retirement
from SAPOL.
Thanks to the association for its efforts in providing better working
conditions for all SAPOL members.
Having served 34 years and 8 months, I leave the best job/career
a female could have. Special thanks to the old WPO days – those women
certainly ensured we maintained our integrity, respect and discipline.
Then into the big world of Port Augusta – four wonderful years – where
I certainly was taught how to survive alone and become a copper. In
1974 things changed for women police and we then were able to get
into the main stream, which included promotion opportunities and applying
for positions outside the Women Police Office. Women moved on as a
result of this change.
My life in the CIB at Organised Crime, Special Crime, Drug Squad,
and Holden Hill CIB was probably all I ever wanted: I had some great
times, worked hard, played hard and locked up plenty of crooks. That
was what being a police officer was all about. Thanks to all my partners
and workmates – you were the best.
My time in Staff Development/Career Guidance was an experience that
assisted my development and hopefully others with whom I came in contact.
Then back to the CIB at Port Adelaide – different role in the administration
arena, but this gave me the opportunity to appreciate the other things
in policing: meetings, budgets, staff responsibilities etc.
During my early career, I was fortunate to be selected to do a negotiators’
course in 1982 and this took me on another direction in my career:
full-time detective and part-time negotiator. It took a lot of time
out of my personal life, but no regrets. I was fortunate to be selected
for the full-time position of negotiator co-ordinator and I retire
knowing I had the best job in SAPOL as the negotiator co-ordinator,
which was my last posting at STAR Group. I feel I was able to contribute
to other members’ needs and the community’s needs in this role. To
all the negotiators, keep on talking – you will win. Thanks to the
starries for keeping me young in mind, you are professionals.
Everything I have done throughout my career in SAPOL I have enjoyed.
I met the challenges and, yes, I was outspoken, but I did this for
others, not myself, to ensure they had better equipment, working environment,
and that their personal/family lives were considered to ensure they
were able to do the task/job required.
Good luck and best wishes to all SAPOL members. Thanks for the wonderful
years. I was going to say the best years, but they are to come in
my retirement.
Jeff and I have retired to Mannum; we have got the best view in Mannum
overlooking the River Murray.
Chris Lawrance
E-mail: chrislaw@senet.com.au
Dear Andy
Please accept my resignation from the Police Association, my last
day of service being August 6, 2003. I have had 15 great years with
SAPOL and don’t regret any of my time spent with such wonderful people
who have the ability to keep the job going on a shoe-string budget.
I am going to miss the work and the “high” of working a good job.
However, I was (as the saying goes) made an offer too good to refuse
and hence I am going to give private industry a go.
To all the people I leave behind I wish the best of luck. I hope
the actual people fighting crime aren’t forgotten – it is those people
who are doing the hard miles in the hard places who (I thought) appeared
to be getting a bit of a hard deal in the promotion stakes. Please
just remember that knowledge and experience go a long way.
To everyone in DOCIB, I will miss your camaraderie and off-beat humour.
I will not miss bin-runs. Good luck to you all in the future.
Best regards
Tanya Holder
DSC, 5347/7
Drug & Organised Crime
Dear Andy
I advise of my resignation from the Police Association due to my
recent retirement, last day of service being August 18, 2003.
I thank all of my colleagues, sworn and unsworn alike, for the friendship,
assistance and support they have generously given me over the past
42 years of my service.
Like in all parts of life there are highs and lows, but overall
there is no doubt I have loved the job and the people in it.
I spent over six years in the industrial relations area, and often
“negotiating” on behalf of SAPOL with association representatives.
Whilst we didn’t always agree, it gave me the opportunity to see both
sides of the fence on many occasions, and there is no doubt in my
mind that PASA plays an important role in ensuring the department,
its managers and supervisors act in a fair and just manner regarding
SAPOL employees. This is particularly so in these current times when
sometimes the focus on outcomes needs to be equally balanced with
a focus on our people – not just the high-flyers, but all employees.
Finally, thanks to you, Andy, and to Peter, Mark and Tom (and partners)
for attending my farewell. I did not get the opportunity to adequately
thank everyone on the night but I really appreciated your presence.
Yours sincerely
John Dicker
Dear Andy
Please accept my resignation from the Police Association of South
Australia. My last day of service is August 21, 2003.
I have made many friends over the past 13 years and wish those people
all the best for the future.
I have moved to Victoria for personal and family commitments and
will be continuing my career with Victoria Police.
Regards and goodbye
Debbie Alvino (née Stevens)
Senior Constable 3729/3
Elizabeth Intelligence Section
Dear Andy
Please accept my resignation from the Police Association due to
my separation from SAPOL effective August 22, 2003. As some members
would be aware, I have had some ups and downs during my two years
as a sworn officer, and time has simply run out. I also thank the
senior management of Adelaide LSA for its assistance and wish all
the very best to members of Course 33 (2001) and hope they achieve
their desired goals within SAPOL. Now I know why it took me five years
to get into the job – it was to be part of the same course as you
guys.
I thank those who have supported and helped me during the past seven
years, in particular Sue Shute from Executive Services Branch, Silvano
Coden (for all the running, weights, slogging and the only physio
who really got my arm back to full strength), librarians from the
academy and operational training staff who, at the academy, put in
a lot of effort to get me up to speed after my operations.
Finally, before I end up writing a mini series, I wish all the best
to everyone I’ve worked with over the past 20 years in SAPOL. I have
enjoyed my time with the organization and, who knows, I could be back
again as an ASO.
Adele Gatt
Probationary Constable 5892/2
Adelaide LSA
Dear Andy
Please accept my resignation from the Police Association of South
Australia effective August 27, 2003, due to my resignation from SAPOL.
I am commencing a career within the wine industry in the Barossa Valley.
I have enjoyed most of my 10 years with SAPOL and look forward to
a fresh start. Is the grass going to be greener on the other side?
I do know the vineyards will be. No longer do I have to “Lead the
way to a safer community” but instead I will be leading the way to
smoother, full-bodied red wines.
I wish to thank the association for the assistance it has provided
to me during my career.
Regards
Matthew Smith
Senior Constable 8496/5
Elizabeth Patrols
Dear Andy
I write to advise that, after over 41 years of service, I have elected
to retire from SAPOL on Friday August 29, ’03 and, therefore, wish
to bring to a close my membership of the Police Association.
I have achieved everything I could have hoped for when I joined
the force on March 12, 1962. To give some indication of what sort
of career I should follow, Dad arranged for vocational guidance and
I was informed that I had the aptitude to be a teacher, lawyer or
mechanical engineer. The vocational guidance bloke told me anyone
could be a police officer.
After all these years, I have done something of what all these professions
do. First and foremost, I have had the privilege of being a police
officer, during which time I have been an instructor and manager at
the police academy, a prosecutor and officer-in-charge of SAPOL’s
Prosecution Service and Legal Branch, as well as an officer in the
Royal Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.
Throughout all my experiences I have enjoyed the comradeship, advice
and guidance of many fine police officers and public servants and
have had a lot of fun and laughs. On reflection, I haven’t said words
like: “Thank you” and “I appreciated that” nearly enough. To those
I missed, or forgot, and who read this: thank you.
Amongst my many memories are those of helping to train and develop
police at many levels and for a lot of different purposes. I have
been impressed with their high calibre, loyalty, unity of purpose
and sense of values and have every confidence that the good work police
do for our State will just get better, even in the face of tough times
and some mystifying management.
Finally, I acknowledge that the Police Association has always been
there for me and others when needed. I remember being told, when I
signed up, that the association engendered esprit de corps amongst
the members of the force. It has certainly done this for me and I
wish the association all the very best in continuing in this vein
and in achieving better conditions and rewards for all police, especially
prosecutors.
Farewell to all and thanks for the wonderful memories.
Yours sincerely
Hank (M A) Ramm
Superintendent
Dear Andy
Please accept my resignation from the Police Association of South
Australia due to my resignation from SAPOL, my last day of service
being September 3, 2003.
I have recently accepted a position as an investigator with the Nurses
Board of South Australia where I will be part of a team investigating
complaints of misconduct against nurses. It has been a somewhat difficult
decision to leave the “comfort zone” that SAPOL has provided me for
the last 12 years, however, this decision was made easier by the fact
my new job does not involve shiftwork, pays better and has a much
more civil client base.
I thank the association for its continued efforts to improve working
conditions for all SAPOL members. Although I have only called upon
the association’s assistance a few times, I found its help to be invaluable.
I also extend my best wishes to all those in the job, especially
the people I worked with at Plympton, Murray Bridge, and the Port
Adelaide LSA.
Regards
Adam Hindmarch
Port AdelaideIntel
ads@senet.com.au
Dear Andy
Please accept my resignation form PASA as I am resigning from SAPOL
on September 19 and will be moving onto greener pastures.
Yours sincerely
Gavin Black
P/C 7341/3
Team 1, Henley Beach
Dear Andy
Please accept my resignation from the Police Association of South
Australia to coincide with my retirement on October 2, 2003.
I shall be joining the Retired Police Officers Association immediately
following.
So much has changed since December 3, 1962.
A long-since retired sergeant once said to me: “You will know when
it is time to go, son. You just wake up one morning… and you know.”
That day has passed.
I have enjoyed my time within the police service, often reflecting
on many memorable moments and a great many unforgettable people I
have met along the way.
It has been comforting to know that the Police Association is there
when you need it, there when you want it and there when it is furthermost
from your mind, working away on a myriad of issues including pay and
conditions.
Thank you for that. Thank you, too, to all those members, past and
present, who have been part of my life over the past 40 years and
10 months. It has been a great ride.
I extend my best wishes to the staff of the Police Association and
the police department, alike.
There you go
Malcolm Hill
Sergeant 293/6
