September 24, 2014

by Anne Miller

Next Monday there will be a special gathering in Nanango to mark the sacrifice of the 140 police officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty in Queensland over the past 150 years.

The church will be full of officers in uniform for the South Burnett’s annual Police Remembrance Day commemoration.

But I wonder how many local residents will be there?

Not a lot, I suspect. It’s not very “cool” to hang around police.

As Australians, we’re far more likely to identify with the outlaws – Ned Kelly, Ben Hall, Chopper Read – than we are with the men ordered to bring them to justice.

Most of us don’t even bother to call police by their right job title. They’re always “coppers” or “wallopers” or “bullymen”, or far less polite terms not suitable for a family website.

However, the siege earlier this month in Murgon, and the incident last night in Melbourne, demonstrate again why police – like soldiers – deserve the community’s utmost respect.

When they go to work, they don’t know what they’re going to face.

It could be defusing a domestic violence incident, a gruesome road crash, a pub brawl …

There’s a few certainties, though. They’re going to be sworn at, drunks will probably try to take a swing at them and they will be blamed for enforcing laws that they have had nothing to do with passing.

And there will be a mountain of paperwork at the end.

And sometimes, just sometimes, they may not come home.

What was going through the minds of the police officers in Murgon, I wonder, when they were confronted with a man pointing a hidden object at them, threatening to blow off their heads?

The AFP officer and the Victoria Police officer involved in last night’s Melbourne incident both ended up in hospital – one in a serious condition.

Eleven years ago, former Yarraman officer Snr Sgt Perry Irwin went to work and didn’t come home. He was shot dead by a criminal who ambushed him during a simple search of bushland near Caboolture.

It should have been just another day at work for Snr Sgt Irwin. It wasn’t. This is the reality of life as a police officer.

The Nanango service will be held at Our Lady Help of Christians Catholic Church on Monday, September 29, from 4:00pm.