Our town, our copper

ACCORDING to the citation, the date was August 22, 1986 and the place was the country town of Yandina. The situation was, to put it mildly, somewhat dangerous.
Barricading himself within a house an armed offender had repeatedly threatened to shoot anyone who approached the residence and had fired several shots, some in the direction of the police who had been summonsed. One of the officers on the scene was Constable 1/C Steven McReight now Senior Sergeant of Noosa District.
“Our people had tried to negotiate with him to come out peacefully but he refused to do so, so a decision was made to somehow get inside the house and disarm him. We had police dogs on site and a move was worked out,” Sen Sgt McReight said.
“My job was to try and get a visual of the offender, pin-point his location, identify the weapon and then we would move in with the dogs. I was able to locate the gunman by climbing up a scaffold at the side of the building; but couldn’t be sure of the weapon type.
We made our move but on entering the house the dog, a trained sniffer dog in the drug squad, stopped to sniff the air and the gunman turned the weapon in the direction of the team. No choice – we had to rush him. All went well – he was overpowered and on checking the weapon there was a cartridge in the breech. He later admitted that he fully intended to use it on the police.”
As a result of their courage and complete disregard for their own personal safety our Senior Sergeant and three of his colleagues were awarded a Commendation for Courage and as was stated in their citation; “They are most deserving of this award.”
For Stephen McReight it all started, when his application for a position at Teachers Training College in Brisbane was unsuccessful.
“I wanted to become a physical training instructor but with only 40 plus positions available and over 845 applicants, gaining entrance into the college was very hard,” he said.
After some discussions with family, Steve made up his mind and so it was that in February 1977 he entered the Police Academy in Brisbane to begin four months of training; training that was to be the start of a very successful career.
Steve’s first posting was to the country town of Warwick and for several years he continued with country postings which included towns such as Dalby, Landsborough, Nambour, Wandoan and Murgon/Cherburg Mission.
“Stationed in some of these country towns was certainly a great way to learn the trade. Being the arresting officer, the watch-house keeper and the prosecutor all in one was not unusual,” he said. “You just had to knuckle down and get on with the job.”
A sparse population also made postings interesting, such as Wandoan with a population of some 600 people with probably another 600 spread out on the many outlying properties.
As we sat and talked it became obvious here was a cop who would have fitted in nicely with the country people. Approachable, sincere and above all fair in the performance of his duties. These were virtues that were to gain not only the support but also the respect of the community in which he served.
“To be a success you have to become involved in the community. If the officer is married, to have a wife who is also involved, can make life so much easier,” he said.
“For me I was lucky. While stationed in Dalby in the early ’80s, I met Maree – the lady who was to become my wife. Maree came from Cooroy and we were married in 1984. Because of her country upbringing she fitted in well in the country towns.”
For example in Murgon, Steve started the Blue Light Disco for the young locals, was involved in the swimming club (of which his wife was president) and the Adopt a Cop Program.
But perhaps his biggest commitment was to the Murgon Rugby League Football Club where his involvement saw him coaching the Under 13s and 17s. Such was his contribution to the club, proudly known as the Mustangs, that before his next posting he was to become the proud recipient of Life Membership of the club.
“Life as a country copper can be a great job, because you got to know the town and the people,” he said.
“However, knowing all the local folk did have its drawback. If there was a fatal accident, you would find yourself having to deal with the deceased; people that you knew personally- or as in one case two young ones that I had been chatting to the day before.”
While discussing this point, my mind was drawn to the number of times that we, the people of Noosa have watched an accident being reported on the evening news, without thinking even for a moment, what our local copper being interviewed, might be going through.
It was during his time in Mooloolaba that Steve went through what was to be one of his proudest experiences.
“I had just finished my shift, arrived home, was inside the house when I heard this blood curdling scream. I ran to the neighbours house two doors down and there lying at the bottom of their swimming pool was a little boy of about two or three,” he said.
“I got him out of the pool. There was no sign of life so I started to do resuscitation. Another neighbour from across the road arrived and we commenced the two man procedure; paramedics were called and the child survived.’’
Several years later at Wandoan, Steve met up with the small child, who by then had grown into a young teenager.
“I was at a primary school athletic carnival and I kept hearing his name called over the PA; he was winning everything he went into. Eventually his mother brought him over and we were introduced. ’You owe this officer everything so say thank you’ she said. We shook hands and it was certainly a great feeling.”
Now with retirement just some 22 months away, Sen Sgt McReight can look back on it all and in his own words know, “that I have helped make a difference and above all helped so many people.”
“Also the working relationship we have in Noosa with our firies, SES, paramedics and Coast Guard is second to none. Regarding progress over the years, our major advancement would have to be all aspects of communication and the supply of basic needs for our officers.”
Our town, our copper; looking after Our People.