By Melissa Coleman
Former officer in charge at Chinchilla Police Station, Senior Sergeant Gerard Brady, said the tragedy at Wieambilla in the Western Downs has knocked the Queensland police family hard, but the nature of the QPS is that they are all affected by the outpouring of compassion and support just as much.
Snr Sgt Brady was stationed at Chinchilla for nearly seven years previous to being transferred to Stanthorpe Police Station.
He left behind a strong legacy in the Chinchilla community and has been building the same positive relationships in Stanthorpe since 2017.
“I still know many people in Chinchilla. I still spend time there. As an organisation, we know a lot of people in different ways and have connections in different areas, so what happened at Wieambilla affects us in different ways, too,” Senior Sergeant Brady said.
Since the horrific incident that took the lives of two colleagues and injured two other police officers, including Constable Randall Kirk, the Stanthorpe Police station has been inundated with gifts of support for the police community in the form of chocolates, flowers and cards.
“The support of the community has had a huge impact on us,” Snr Sgt Brady said.
“It has a real calming effect… for people to do this, it’s really appreciated,” he continued, “It allows us to help deal with it all and reminds each and every one of us that the community is behind us.
“All too often, we deal with the worst of society; we don’t really get to talk with the decent people in the community as much as we’d like. To get this support really means a lot; it does.
“It’s been a terrible few days.”
Snr Sgt Brady acknowledged the support from the local and regional areas saying on behalf of Chinchilla Police Station and the wider QPS, I’d like to say thank you to the community.
This week the Queensland government set up a Community Recovery response to support Queenslanders who have been impacted by the Wieambilla incident.
While many dignitaries and individuals within communities across Queensland, including Stanthorpe and Warwick, have offered their deepest condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Constable Matthew Arnold, Constable Rachel McCrow and Alan Dare, many may be struggling to come to terms with this terrible event.
Anyone who needs support can call the Community Recovery Hotline on 1800 173 349 for information or referrals to a range of flexible support services, such as counselling.
The Community Recovery staff are on the ground at Tara and Chinchilla, but closer to home, the Darling Downs and West Moreton PHN have joined the response to the tragedy, setting up critical ongoing support at ground zero as well.
Darling Downs and West Moreton PHN CEO, Lucille Chalmers, said in response to this situation, the PHN is coordinating with local service providers to provide urgent mental health support for Chinchilla and Tara.
“We are shocked and saddened by this tragic event. The addition of these mental health service providers will ensure locals have a place to turn for support during this time,” said Ms Chalmers.
“These services are provided by qualified mental health professionals, and will be available across the next week, with some possibilities of extension where required and possible.”
Lifeline have been deployed by the District Disaster Management Group and currently have two staff available in Tara.
Any person can access support by calling Head to Health on 1800 595 212 from Monday to Friday 8:30-5:00pm to talk to a mental health professional.
The funeral service with full police honours for the fallen officers, Constable Rachel McCrow and Constable Matthew Arnold was held on Wednesday 21 December at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.
