{"id":82668,"date":"2014-09-24T20:58:39","date_gmt":"2014-09-24T10:58:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=82668"},"modified":"2020-08-25T16:03:18","modified_gmt":"2020-08-25T06:03:18","slug":"police-deserve-our-respect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2014\/09\/24\/police-deserve-our-respect\/","title":{"rendered":"Police Deserve Our Respect"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>September 24, 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

by Anne Miller<\/strong><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The church will be full of officers in uniform for the South Burnett’s annual Police Remembrance Day commemoration.<\/p>\n

But I wonder how many local residents will be there?<\/p>\n

Not a lot, I suspect. It’s not very “cool” to hang around police. <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

When they go to work, they don’t know what they’re going to face.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It could be defusing a domestic violence incident, a gruesome road crash, a pub brawl …<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

And there will be a mountain of paperwork at the end.<\/p>\n

And sometimes, just sometimes, they may not come home.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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?<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

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