November 1999 Volume 80 Number 11
"serving the protectors"
| November 1999 Volume 80 Number 11 "serving the protectors" |
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| Police and Death Risk Inseparable | |
| By
Brett Williams |
olice can never avoid the risk of being killed on duty, laments Police Association secretary, Andy Dunn. Despite the best efforts of police departments and associations to ensure law enforcers’ safety, the risk, he said, can only ever be minimized.
Dunn commented on the issue after laying a wreath during the National Police Remembrance Day memorial service at Fort Largs on September 29. The service honoured SA’s 58 officers killed in the line of duty since 1847.
Senior police chaplain, Reverend David Marr, addressed a congregation of about 200, which included slain officers’ families, friends and former colleagues.
“Policing the community, at times, comes at a high cost,” Marr told the gathering. “It is in these circumstances that their (police officers’) lives, and those of their families and loved ones, may be changed forever.
Four Australian police officers were killed while on duty in the 12 months to September this year. They were:
- Sergeant Glen Huitson (NT Police).
- Constable Ty Bennett (Tasmania Police).
- Senior Constable Simon De Winne (Victoria Police).
- Senior Constable Gordon Patrick (WA Police).
Services were held around the nation to honour all Australian police officers killed in the line of duty.
Dunn said he was “terribly moved” by the SA service. “I go every year because there is so much that our deceased members have left behind: their families, children and workmates,” he said. “It just seems so unfair.
“I don’t think there could ever be too many people commemorating the sacrifice that our members have made over the years.”
Des Loft laid flowers in honour of his son, Senior Constable Gordon Loft, who was run down by a drunk driver while operating a radar unit in 1991.
Senior Constable David Barr was honoured by his wife, Gwenda, and daughter, Sarah. Barr was stabbed while attempting to arrest an offender at the Salisbury Interchange in 1990.
John Holman, who was gunned down in a city street in 1929, was paid tribute by his niece, Jean Dehncke.
Australian Defence Force officers, along with representatives of the SA Government, SA fire services and Police Credit Union, also attended the service.
Police Minister, Robert Brokenshire, who laid the first wreath, said it was important for the community to remember the risks that officers face. “Too often it can be taken for granted,” he said after the service.
“An Australian police remembrance day is a chance to get a message across to the community that these officers are putting a lot more forward when they go on a shift than most of us.”
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