SON FOLLOWS HERO FATHER INTO THE LINE OF DUTY
HAVING seen his father in a hospital bed after he was shot in the line of duty, many sons would have considered a different career path.
But not Aaron Hamrey who is following in the footsteps of his father, hero Gold Coast dog squad boss Gary.
It’s almost four years to the day since Senior Sergeant Gary Hamrey was seriously injured while hunting down armed robbers who held 15 people hostage in an Arundel tavern.
On September 27, 2013, he and colleagues pursued the two offenders into nearby bushland, where one opened fire on police.
Senior Sergeant Hamrey was shot in the face in the fracas but managed to shine his torch in the direction of one of the thieves, allowing Senior Constable Stephen Cook to return fire and eventually apprehend one of the criminals.
But instead of being put off by the ordeal, Senior Sergeant Hamrey says his son Aaron – who was working as a general duties officer in Ipswich at the time – was still motivated to join the dog squad.
“You’ve got to go through and do your time on the road – prove yourself and get a grounding in police work and then go through the application process like everyone else,” he said.
“I think he’d been trying for four or five years to get in and finally jagged it and it was just coincidental that the dog squad spot on the Gold Coast was vacant and he jagged it (about a year ago).”
Senior Sergeant Hamrey said until recently, it was common to find generations of sons following in their father’s footsteps in the police force.
“It sort of drifted away from that for a little while but now it seems to be coming back with generations of sons and daughters coming back into the job,” he said.
“I think it’s making a comeback because it’s a great job and kids are a part of the policing family – that’s how we try to do it, especially in the dog squad.”