October 1999 Volume 80 Number 10
"serving the protectors"
| October 1999 Volume 80 Number 10 "serving the protectors" |
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| By
Brett Williams |
The Grieving Continues
cloud of intense sorrow still hangs over Northern Territory police two months after the brutal slaying of their mate and colleague, Sgt Glen Huitson. NT Police Association executive officer, Max Hill, says some of his members will remain affected by Huitson’s murder for “quite some time”.
When a member gets murdered as blatantly as this,” he says, “it does affect everybody. In fact, some people in the job just don’t want to talk about it.”
Hill and other association officials marked their respect for Huitson with a minute’s silence at the opening of the NTPA annual conference in Darwin on August 30.
Huitson, 38, was shot dead at a roadblock at the intersection of Stuart Highway and Old Bynoe Road, Acacia, 55km south of Darwin on August 3.
After an hours-long shooting rampage, gunman Rodney William Ansell - said to be the man on whom Paul Hogan’s Crocodile Dundee character was based - shot Huitson in his side.
A gun battle followed in which Ansell, 44, was shot dead by Huitson’s partner, Constable Jamie O’Brien.
Huitson died in the Royal Darwin Hospital an hour later. He left behind his wife, Lisa, and children, Joseph, 2, and Ruby, six months.
The bullet which killed Huitson penetrated the seam of a bullet-proof vest he was wearing. Northern Territory press reports described the seam as “unprotected”. The NTPA has since questioned the suitability of its members’ one-size-fits-all vests.
Two other men also suffered gunshot wounds and were admitted to hospital. One had been asking Huitson and O’Brien for directions when he was shot in the buttocks.
Police Federation of Australia president, Peter Alexander, says Huitson’s murder has profoundly affected NT police. “There is certainly a real sense of loss and disbelief within the police community,” he says.
“Any murder of a police officer, particularly in these types of circumstances, does have a negative effect. But that is the reality of our occupation - our men and women face risk. A murder such as this brings it home to all of us.
“We haven’t reached the stage where we take it as the norm. We’re shocked when it happens in Australia.”
Stationed at Adelaide River, Huitson was the first NT police officer to be murdered since the 1952 killing of a constable in Katherine.
Hailed as a hero in death, Huitson was already due to receive the Valour Award for bravery. He disarmed a gunman who terrorized passengers on a tourist bus in Litchfield last February.
Huitson was honoured with a full police funeral in Darwin on Saturday, August 7. As well as his family and friends, hundreds of NT police gathered at St Mary’s Cathedral to pay their last respects. About 30 officers formed a guard of honour while six others carried Huitson’s coffin.
In an emotion-charged presentation, NT police commissioner, Brian Bates, handed Huitson’s widow, Lisa, her husband’s police cap and Valour Award for bravery.
Greatly respected by the Aboriginal community, Huitson was farewelled in song by a tribe from Daly River, where he once served. Police association representatives from across the nation, and New Zealand, also attended the funeral.
“Their attendance,” says Hill, “was well received by the Northern Territory public, who saw them in uniform in the walk that we had afterwards. We (the NTPA) were most grateful for their attendance - and so was the family.”
Hill had visited Huitson at Adelaide River only weeks before the shooting. He now laments the years which Huitson won’t have to be with his family and watch his children grow.
He says Huitson was a great contributor who gave “110 per cent” to the Northern Territory community.
“He was just a nice bloke,” says Hill. “Glen probably had 25 years of policing left in him. He was a professional police officer, and your typical bush policeman. It (Huitson’s death) has been devastating to me personally.”
Alexander says the tragedy of police deaths in the line of duty is a constant concern to all police associations. And, of immediate concern to the PFA, is the Huitson family’s welfare.
“The provisions in relation to the late member’s wife and family are not as good as we would like,” Alexander says, “and certainly not as good as are found in other jurisdictions.
“The federation will assist its Northern Territory affiliate in relation to fund-raising for the wife and children.”
And the NTPA has already established a trust fund account. Launched on August 5, and known as the Glen Huitson Family Memorial Fund, the account had grown to $75,000 by mid-September following an overwhelming public response.
Also launched in August was the Glen Huitson lottery, which is designed to raise $100,000 through the sale of 2,000 tickets. Hill hopes the lottery will be strongly supported by Australia’s police associations.
“There are three prizes,” he says, “and while it’s $50 a ticket, you could say it’s a donation.”
Donations to the Glen Huitson Family Memorial Fund can be made at any Westpac branch into account 035 302 204 682.
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