Aidan Curtis
LIMESTONE Coast Police and community members joined officers across the country in marking Police Remembrance Day on Friday morning.
More than 40 people, including local government representatives and emergency services personnel, gathered at the Mount Gambier Police Station to remember police officers who fell in the line of duty.
Following the service, Superintendent Campbell Hill said policing is a very busy profession, so it was important to set aside time to reflect on the sacrifices of those that came before.
“People see police officers and they see the uniform … so again the relevance to today is that we remember these people, more importantly than the job they did, they were family members, they were friends, brothers, sons, daughters, cousins, sisters, aunties, nieces,” Supt Hill said.
“The reverberations, the impacts are still immense regardless of the work they choose to do.
“For how safe Australia is, and again how safe South Australia is, when these things do happen, it really does cause concern for people, but ultimately there are families and friends and communities left reeling on the back of it.”
Supt Hill highlighted that police officers are very much a part of the community and said the loss of South East Constables Warren Matheson and Matthew Payne, who lost their lives in Adelaide more than 40 years ago, was still felt today.
“We’ve still got family members and, 40 years on, the impacts of those deaths of those two officers are still felt every day by family,” he said.
“They were nearly 500 kilometres away, but they were in the patrol car trying to intercept someone who was driving recklessly.
“There are people and families that are left behind.”
Supt Hill thanked all who attended for taking the time to recognise the work police do in the community and the inherent risks that come with the profession.
