A FAMILIAR face is back on police patrols in the Millicent district.
Senior Constable First Grade Peter Phillips is perhaps best known locally as the officer-in-charge of Beachport police from 2013-17.
In this capacity, he was chosen as the South Australian Police Officer of the Year in 2017.
For the past two years he was on general patrol in Mount Gambier and he is now in a similar role in Millicent.
A vacancy arose at the George Street station when Sen Con Nick Patterson was promoted to sergeant following the retirement of Derek Long.
The South East lifestyle has obviously appealed to Sen Con Phillips over the past six years.
Accompanied to the seaside by his family, Sen Con Phillips accepted promotion in September, 2013.
The move from Adelaide to Beachport allowed him to broaden his police experience and be promoted from his previous rank of senior constable.
Like a number of uniformed predecessors at the seaside such as the late Terry Patton, he joined the Lions Club of Beachport and Rivoli Bay.
Another community interest was the founding of a Beachport branch of Surf Life Saving in 2015 and he remains involved with the club.
Since graduating from the Fort Largs Police Academy in Adelaide in 2006, Sen Con Phillips has served in suburban locations in general patrols, in CIB support roles and with the transit branch.
As a coincidence, Sgt Patterson is a member of the Beachport Surf Life Saving Club and a past officer-in-charge of Beachport police.
