Karratha community pays respect to fallen police officers at Remembrance Day service

Pilbara police, the local community and emergency service personnel have gathered together to remember and honour fallen members of the “blue family”. Held on or around September 29 each year since 1989, Police Remembrance Day is an opportunity to reflect and pay respect to police officers who lost their lives in the line of duty. The national day of recognition involves ceremonies across the Australasia and South West Pacific regions including in the Pilbara, where Karratha police gathered to recite poems and read out the names of fallen officers from the Pilbara District. This included the names of the four officers who were killed in a police aircraft near Newman on January 26, 2001. Senior Constable Donald Everett, Senior Constable Philip Ruland, First Class Constable Davod Dewar and Constable Gavin Capes travelled to the remote community Kiwirrkurra to respond to a domestic incident. The officers flew from Newman to the remote community and once the situation was resolved they made their way back to Newman at 7.30pm. At 9.50pm Sen. Const. Everett radioed to report difficulties with witnesses reported seeing the plane spiral downwards. The wreckage was discovered at 4.30am the following day about 3km south-east of the airport with all four officers having been killed on impact. At the Remembrance Day ceremony, key dignitaries were invited to lay wreathes to commemorate the fallen. The ceremony concluded with the touching of the rock, where guests placed a hand on the memorial rock outside Karratha Police Station — a Pilbara tradition that commenced in 2015 at a ceremony in Newman. During the ceremony Acting Inspector Paul Matthews asked for those present to reflect on the commitment made by police and to remember their fallen comrades. “Throughout Australia on a daily basis, police officers risk their lives in their service to the community. Unfortunately many have paid the supreme sacrifice,” he said. “The Pilbara District has not been exempted from these tragedies and the deaths of four police officers in Newman in 2001 serves as tragic reminders of the dangers faced by police officers as they go about their daily duties.”