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On Tuesday 20 September 2011, approximately 240 persons gathered at the Liverpool Catholic Club to celebrate the achievements of some of our finest.
Congratulations to each of the following for this year’s honours;
Police Officer of the Year
Senior Constable Kellie Wilson – for Liverpool Local Area Command
Sergeant Narelle Clancy – for Green Valley Local Area Command
Team Winners
General Duties Team 5 – Liverpool Local Area Command
Proactive Crime Team – Green Valley Local Area Command
Special Rotary Award
Paul Harris Fellow awarded to NSW Commissioner Andrew P Scipione APM
The night began with the very accomplished performer, Mark Bowden leading the celebration by starting our night with the National Anthem.
Chief of Staff to the Commissioner, Chief Superintendent Adam White as Master of Ceremonies introduced an exhaustive list of dignitaries and fellow celebrants
Honorary Chairman John Gibbs had the pleasure of a general welcome and dedication of the evening to partners of our local police in particular and to all of our partners. June Young OAM as chair for the previous 12 years was excused as an apology having done everything she could to ensure the success of the night, prior to departing for a trip to Scandinavia.
Liverpool West Rotary President Ted Mlynarz, flanked by Liverpool President Shaun Jackson and Liverpool Greenway President Tony Scarfone performed the enviable honour of presiding over and awarding NSW Police Commissioner Andrew P Scipione (APM) a Paul Harris Fellow on behalf of the three Rotary Clubs of Liverpool and the Liverpool Community in long appreciation of his dedication to the Police Force, his shared ideals for a safer and more peaceful community and in particular for his enduring support of the Rotary Police officer of the Year Programme culminating in the Commissioner working with Sydney Rotary to take the program State Wide, where at the inaugural 2010 State Awards, Commissioner Scipione announced his long term goal was to see the awards go National. It was then very pleasing to have Mrs Scipione in attendance with good attendance from the Commissioner’s office, other Police Hierarchy including Assistant Commissioner Mennilli, a good number from Commands, many other dignitaries and a good local representation in general.
Following much deserved congratulations, Mayor Wendy Waller in support yet once again gave a delightful and engaging Mayoral Welcome to all gathered to celebrate Liverpool Police Officer of the Year. Our District Governor David Cook did Rotary proud in his response with a gracious and deserved thank you to Mayor Wendy, added congratulations and justifications for the Commissioner’s Paul Harris Fellow and the justification of the importance of the Rotary Police officer of the Year Program
Police Chaplain Keith Morgan took the honours in presiding over grace.
Following dinner we acknowledged our platinum sponsors and heard from Lynell Peck of The Australian Turf Club and Michael Davis of Westfield Liverpool. Platinum sponsors this year including Maurice Tulich of Blue Hills Village, Liverpool City Council, Liverpool Leader and venue hosts the Liverpool Catholic Club lead a record field of 19 worthy sponsors enabling us to deliver a very special community night.
Next we heard from our sincerely appreciative 2010 winners of Police Officer of the year in Constable David Arthurson for the Green Valley Local Command and Detective Sergeant Paul Smith of the Liverpool Local Area Command. Paul told us of various forms of accolades that ensued including Detective Senior Sergeant Deanne Stanley following him down the street waving a placard with a picture of him from the paper and headline announcing Police Officer of the year. The Pride of the award really hitting home when his daughter wanted to take his medal to school..
President Tony Scarfone of Liverpool greenway did the honours for us in presenting a donation of $1,000.00 on the night to NSW Police Legacy, which was graciously accepted and responded to by Superintendent Susan Waits. As in other years it is expected we will be in a position to contribute a further amount once we have a final wrap up of the accounts.
Premier Barry O’ Farrell responded to an invitation to join us by advising he would like to appoint Mr Bryan Doyle MP, Member for Campbelltown as his representative for which we remain very appreciative of. Following a 27 year celebrated career in the NSW Police Force prior to crossing over as later warmly put by Commissioner Scipione, Mr Doyle delivered a very warm and personal Police Address, in which he was able to welcome Green Valleys newly appointed Commander in Detective Superintendent James Johnson with earlier recollections of events involving Superintendent Johnson and Inspector Siobhan Busetto, the current Duty Officer at Green Valley. Prior to the crossover, he was also a member of the Macarthur Sunrise Rotary Club.
Mark Bowden and the fabulous Starstruck Showgirls then performed a 45 minute mini spectacular. Several changes saw the Starstruck showgirls performing dances in an array of stunning costumes and Mark also went through a metamorphous growing a Freddie Mercury Moustache with a rendition of ‘I want to be free’ before later evolving into a very young version of a white suited Barry Manilow with plenty of crowd interaction including Dances with Deanne Stanley and Doris Gibbs.
The Entertainment was followed by the Team Awards which are decided by the respective Commanders
With Commander Ray King an apology, Acting Commander Greg Tetley took the honours for presiding over the Liverpool Local Area’s Command Award for ‘General Duties Team 5’ and called all of team 5 to the stage. A host of young men answered the call, far too many for me to count.
Acting Commander Stephen Corry, in that position for the last 8 months took the honours for presiding and presenting his award to the Green Valley Local area Command Proactive Crime Team.
The Commanders citied pleasing results from the efforts of their team, with statistics showing a real decline in criminal activity in the community.
We then had our guest of honour give an engaging Commissioner’s Address. Commissioner Scipione installed the virtues for the community based Rotary Police awards. The commissioner pointed out that while Police have a well established system of awards and commendations to recognise the professional milestones and achievements of our officers, that the awards facilitated by Rotary from the community are both humbling and well appreciated. In congratulating all finalists, he said ‘for you, your families, friends, Local Area Commanders… and of course for me it is a proud moment.’
Mr Scipione encouraged partnerships within the community as a means of making progress before going on to pay homage for achievements in our Local Commands.
For Liverpool Local Area Command he cited Operation Kelton whereby the Liverpool Police worked with the Council, Departments of Housing and Health and other agencies along with local residents to address a range of local community initiatives. Operation Locktite as a joint project to reduce license plate theft fitting one way screws and raising awareness of anti-theft strategies. Also cited was a reduction of robbery offences over the past 12 months as a result of: Operation Nitsana.
For Liverpool Local Area Command, the Commissioner cited participation in the Valley Plaza Safety Expo, Community Engagement sessions at Carnes Hill and Cecil Hills Shopping Centres, engagements with local politicians attending local religious functions and the recent Annual Police/Community Soccer match where one of the sides lost by a narrow margin of 7.
In assuring us of our Local Commands efforts to engage the community he also reminded us that the Commands work around the clock to patrol our neighbourhoods, apprehend and prosecute offenders, saying that new challenges are faced by Police men and women everyday and that he can assure us that this evenings awards for the recognition of the hard work of our officers was very much appreciated.
Address complete, the commissioner announced and presented the winners for the individual award of Police officer of the Year. A large Glass plaque and a perpetual collar with their names and the names of the previous winners on individual gold bars were presented to each of the winners and a perpetual trophy was presented jointly to the Commanders.
Senior Constable Kellie Wilson took the honours for the Liverpool Local Area Command. Kellie is a Domestic Violence Liaison Officer and was proudly nominated by Volunteer in Policing Jan Still describing Kellie as an extremely diligent and professional officer dedicated to her job and the people she works with offering complete understanding, help and guidance to members of the public at a time when they are most vulnerable.
Kellie told us how passionate she is about her job and assured us there is no any achievement and recognition she receives is a result of support from and working with a team of dedicated colleagues.
Sergeant Narelle Clancy took the honours for for Green Valley Local Area Command. Narelle has just recently been promoted to Sergeant. The advice coming just in time to have the upgraded ranking engraved on her plaque. As a Leading Senior Constable and experienced General Duties Officer Narelle has been nominated for Police Officer of the Year a number of times before for her positive impact on colleagues and her service above self to victims both during and outside her shifts. A nomination by a fellow colleague recalled an occasion on an outing with family when they drove across a fatal accident, LSC Clancy attended the scene and provided first aid to a critically injured passenger for an extended period of time until medical teams arrived, and who spoke highly of LSC Clancy’s efforts under difficult circumstances.
Both Officers captivated the audience with their response and expressions of appreciation for the awards, and remain very deserving winners.
President Tony Scarfone of the Rotary Club of Greenway assisted by a very sporting Ms Melanie Gibbons MP, Member for Menai then drew the raffle with Finalist Constable Benjamin Radford winning the major prize of a 55 cm LCD TV donated by the Liverpool Catholic Club.
Doris Gibbs then had the pleasure of presenting potted flowers to Mrs Joy Scipione, Ms Melanie Gibbons, Mayor Wendy Waller, Superintend Susan Waits and our DG’s wife Mrs Carolyn Cook
Chief Superintendent Adam Whyte closed the Ceremonies followed by final congratulations and thankyous on behalf of the committee by President Shaun Jackson of Liverpool Rotary Club
The night was a great success thanks to the collaboration and support of many which we remain sincerely appreciative. Thank you to all our speakers who offered a wonderful endorsement of the awards and enthralled the audience. Our Master of Ceremonies was superb as always.
May all our recipients enjoy the accolades and a long and lasting pride in their achievements!
Please see our article on 2011 honours and recognition showing all finalists, sponsors and recognition of many others.
Please also see our Honours listing 1999 to 2011 listing all our awardees over the years and the write up for our Paul Harris fellow to Commissioner Scipione.
Finally our winners are now off to the NSW awards and would be appreciative of support.
The Rotary Clubs of NSW Police Officer of the Year Awards will be held Friday 4th November 2011, from 7pm to midnight at Doltone House, Jones Bay Wharf. $95 per person includes: A cocktail reception, 3 course meal with fine wines and Dancing to the NSW Police Band. Tickets are available from the Rotary Club of Sydney. Tel: (02) 9265 0700 Email: rotarypoliceawards2011@arinex.com.au
Registration is available online: http://www.sydneyrotary.com/events/
Flyer Depicting awards available by download here.
Please contact John Gibbs immediately on 0425 340 190 or if you would like to book as part of a group.
Regards
John Gibbs |