Annual tribute to retired PASA members

The Police Association let none of its retired members end his years of service without a night to remember

Up until June 25 this year, I didn’t know people told jokes about dead bodies over dinner – and got a laugh. But, then again, I had never until then attended a dinner in honour of retired police officers.

The PASA Retiring Members’ Dinner is an annual event with a 60-year tradition. The Police Association, together with the Police Credit Union, spared no expense to stage the 2004 dinner at the Radisson Playford Adelaide Hotel, to make sure our long-serving cops went out with a bang.

Clockwise from top left: Keith Crowther accepts his retirement gift from PASA president, Peter Alexander; John Dicker with Peter Alexander; retired PASA members pose for their group photo in the Radisson foyer.

The evening kicked off with the Band of the SA Police marching into the ballroom to an amazing rendition of Waltzing Matilda. The audience, taken totally by surprise, marvelled at the 18-piece band as it marched into the room and weaved its way around dinner tables.

The band members eventually made their way up to the stage where, in one fantastic swoop, one of the bandsmen ripped away a piece of black fabric covering a stand.

His magician-like action revealed a set of six beautifully shiny Timbale drums. Just the vision of the magnificent instrument was enough to wow the audience – before anyone had actually started to play them.

The Timbale was put to good use as the funky beats of Timbale Madness were drummed out with authority. Every toe in the room was tapping, even those of Retired Police Officers Association president, Les Morris, and his wife, Nan, who both moved to the groove.

After a few more jamming numbers, the band made its exit to the rhythm of the Radetsky March, the official march of the SA Police. The audience erupted into raucous applause, which echoed through the room long after the last band member had disappeared. The band was incredible and set the night off to a tremendous start.

We then heard the sound of tapping on glass, as PASA secretary, Andy Dunn, took to the stage to open the evening formally. He welcomed official guests, Police Minister Kevin Foley, Shadow Police Minister Robert Brokenshire, and Commissioner Mal Hyde.

Up next was Police Association president, Peter Alexander, who welcomed the retirees and gave a short but reverent speech about their careers. He paid homage to the now former PASA members for their long and devoted service to policing. As he concluded, Mr Alexander thanked them for so frequently putting their lives in danger as they kept SA streets safe during their “tough and more-often-than-not thankless working lives”.

Recognition of the retirees next came from Commissioner Hyde, who thanked them for their service, and spoke proudly of the first-class reputation of South Australian police officers.

Kevin Foley, in his address, commended the retired officers for their long years of service. “South Australia definitely has the best police force,” he said, but then drew some chuckles when he claimed “it’s just not the best paid”.

Minister Foley went on to tell the audience that his own school-age son had had to choose a field in which to complete a week of work experience. His son chose the police force – not for the paper work of which he thinks there’s too much, but for the action, car chases and guns.

When Minister Foley asked why he hadn’t chosen a political career, as had his dad, his son’s retort was: “Because I want people to like me.”

From left: Members of the SA police band drum out Timbale Madness; guests gather for pre-dinner drinks

Police Credit Union chairman, Peter “Spoggy” Graham, followed on with a short oratory on the long-standing relationship between PASA and the PCU. Celebrating 33 years since its founding, the PCU is the fourth largest credit union in South Australia. Mr Graham thanked the members for their contribution to its success and wished them all a happy retirement.

The 41 retirees were later called on to the stage individually to collect their PASA retirement gifts and say something about their careers. The speeches took the audience down memory lane well beyond midnight. Some of the more memorable stories came from:

• Graham Bawden, who thought it was “great to catch up with the old people”. He probably meant it was great to catch up with people he hasn’t seen for a while but, judging by the laughter, it didn’t come across that way.
• Malcolm Griffiths, who reminisced about the good old days when one would investigate clubs, pubs and hotels, adding: “You know that things have changed when most of the dirty laundry comes from churches.”
• Haydon Coulls, who, while other cadets were out breaking athletics records, broke one of his own – for the slowest-finishing cadet ever (thanks to his pre-academy lifestyle of “booze, bakeries and cigarettes”).
• John Dicker, who reminisced about the old days of: “Yes sir, no sir, how high commissioner, sir?” He added that, now, in retirement, it’s: “G’day Mal.”
• Keith Crowther, who spoke of a runaway raging bull that he thought he could simply shoo away from the property to which he’d been called. Eight hours, one written-off cop car, nine others called in and one very agitated bull later, Keith thought that next time he would take some back-up.

Just then, with Foley’s earlier one-liner in his mind, Police Association deputy president, Nick Pippos, chimed in with: “We really need more money.”

On a hugely successful night, the food was delicious, the drinks kept coming and the company was fantastic. All revelled in the opportunity to celebrate the careers of 41 police officers who, over the years, had given everything they had – sometimes at the expense of loved ones – for the safety of others.