The drum : the Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency Services magazine
Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency Services
The Drum; E-Journals; PublicationNT
2009-08
This publication contains may contain links to external sites. These external sites may no longer be active.; Made available via the Publications (Legal Deposit) Act 2004 (NT).
Date:2009-08
English
Northern Territory Police, Fire And Emergency Services; Periodicals; Police; Northern Territory; Periodicals
Northern Territory Government
Winnellie
Attribution International 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)
Northern Territory Government
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/216683
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/709118
14 | The DRUM Magazine | August 2009 Over the next 30 years many things changed and some of those young recruits are long gone, but NT Police Squad 30 marked the occasion in February this year with a reunion party in Darwin. One of the organisers Superintendent Lorraine Carlon said the highlight of the three day event was dinner at Lewinskis in the Darwin CBD, however special events were arranged for almost every minute of the three days. Supt Carlon said it was gratifying to see 22 out of the original 52 recruits turned up for the 30 year reunion. We managed to locate all but three of the original squad members before the reunion, and that was great, Supt Carlon said. Sadly two people had passed away at the time of the reunion. These were Rod Paskins and Ken Smith, but as for the rest, four of us are still with NT Police, 17 are still in law enforcement or related occupations elsewhere and seven have retired. Nineteen entered careers and lifestyles outside of law enforcement after leaving. Among those who are still with NT Police are Assistant Commissioner Graham Kelly, Commander Kate Vanderlaan, Superintendent Lorraine Carlon and former Detective Senior Sergeant Les Martin, who is a retired member that has returned to the NT Police within Task Force Themis. Another notable member was Commander Greg Dowd who retired a week after the reunion. Graham Kelly is the Assistant Commissioner of Operations Service and is based in Darwin. During his career he has worked throughout the Territory in both Crime and Operations at various remote and regional localities. He was promoted to the rank of Assistant Commissioner in 2003. Kate Vanderlaan became the first woman to become a Commander in the NT Police Force in 2003. Earlier in her career she spent five years in the traffic section and earned the distinction of being the first female motor cycle patrol office in Australia. Kate currently commands the Ethical and Professional Standards Command. Lorraine Carlon is the Superintendent of the Operational Intelligence Section, Crime Command. During her career she also spent many years involved in the area of domestic violence prevention and was instrumental in the implementation of the Domestic Violence Unit. Commander Greg Dowd retired from the NT Police just after the reunion. At the time of his retirement he was in charge of the Strategic Planning Command. Former Senior Sergeant Les Martin was also part of Squad 30. Les retired in 2007 after many years in Operations and Crime, but has since returned as a civilian logistics officer with Taskforce Themis. Detective Senior Constable Stan Fensom was another Squad 30 member, however, Stan too has recently retired. Superintendant Carlon said the reunion had been a wonderful chance for the squad to renew old friendships and catch up on what everyone was doing. Squad 30 30 Year ReunionThirty years ago, 52 keen young recruits, were welcomed into the Northern Territory Police Force by the then Police Commissioner Peter McAulay, and the then Chief Minister and Attorney General Paul Everingham. ValeGarth McEvoy 12/11/195417/7/2009 In a sad irony Squad 30s reunion earlier this year was the last time many of his friends saw Garth McEvoy. Garth joined the Northern Territory Police in February 1979 along with 51 others, including Assistant Commissioner Grahame Kelly. On Friday, July 17 this year Garth was at a breakfast meeting in Jakarta in his role as Commercial Manager for Thiess Indonesia when an explosive device was detonated by terrorists in the restaurant of the Marriott Hotel. Garth was killed in the blast. Assistant Commissioner Kelly said Garths death was a tragic and cowardly act. After he left NT Police in 1983 he was involved in several different enterprises before gaining his Law degree. He eventually went to Indonesia and was working for Thiess for the last couple of years. It has been an absolute honour to have known Garth and it has been my greatest privilege to count him as my mate for more than 30 years. Barbara and I and our five sons will miss him dearly. The world became a sadder place at his passing.