Police Remembrance Day marked in Narrabri

National Police Remembrance Day was marked on September 29 with a poignant service held at the Narrabri Anglican Church.

“National Police Remembrance Day is the single most important day for us as a police family,” Oxley Superintendent Kylie Endemi told The Courier.

“It is extremely emotional for us; we have suffered tragic loss amongst our own colleagues within the Oxley Police District, and that’s why it is incredibly important that we come together today with the community and with those people who support us.

“We remember those fallen officers, and we honour them, and we vow to keep on, in terms of our oath of office and the fight against crime that they stood for, and we do that in their honour.

“This is our way to publicly display our acknowledgment to them and spend the day with their families and the community who we couldn’t do our jobs without.”

Each year, on September 29, the police community throughout Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and the Solomon Islands pauses to honour officers who lost their lives in the line of duty.

It is also a time to recognise the contribution of police officers who have died due to illness or in other circumstances.

When a person signs up to join the police force, it is not only the officer but also their friends and families who are asked to make sacrifices and serve their communities, especially in country areas.

“It’s always important to acknowledge our family and our close friends who support us,” said Superintendent Endemi.

“It’s those people who send their loved ones off to work every day with the knowledge that they might not come home, and that’s an unspeakable reality that everyone faces.

“And I know from my own personal experience and after 27 years in this job that there is no way that any of us could do what we do without the support of our families.

“Unfortunately, when they suffer the loss that some of our families have suffered here today, that is the time when the police family has to come together, and we have to support them in honour of our brothers and sisters in blue.”

Superintendent Endemi made special mention of the late Robert Tait, a former Narrabri Police Inspector who she said had a huge impact on her career, and that’s why attending this year’s service in Narrabri was very close to her heart.

“The Oxley Police District holds one main Remembrance Day service each year on September 29, and we choose a different location each year across the district because it is so geographically large it is really hard for everyone in the community and our police family to come together in a central location, so it’s important to take our service and our commemoration to the different communities in our district,” said Superintendent Endemi.

“And as this year is my last Police Remembrance Day at Oxley Police District, it was incredibly important to me to have the last of my official duties but importantly the last Remembrance Day service here in Narrabri and important for me to honour Inspector Robert Tait who passed away here many years ago, and he was a great mentor of mine as a child and probably a really significant factor in terms of why I joined the

NSW Police, so it was really emotional for me and really important for me to have it in Narrabri.

“And this is a great community, and it’s certainly been an honour for me to be a Commander of the Oxley Police District that has included a community like Narrabri,” added Superintendent Endemi, who is preparing to move into a new role as Commander of Newcastle City Police District.

Former police officers, Narrabri Shire community members, including mayor Ron Campbell, deputy mayor Darrell Tiemens and Narrabri Fire and Rescue members joined Oxley Police District officers for the service.

Attendees also acknowledged the Wee Waa officers who weren’t able to be at the service due to floodwaters.