Police pause to honour fallen

POLICE officers from across the Far North have paused to pay tribute their fallen colleagues at National Police Remembrance Day memorial services across the region.

During a service in Cairns, special tribute was paid to two officers in the Far North Police District who had died in the past 12 months — Senior Constable Dylan Owen and Senior Police Liaison Officer Elma Kennedy.

Former Far North District Chief Superintendent Brett Schafferius had described SenConstable Owen as “an absolutely outstanding police officer who was a very strong family man”.

Acting Chief Superintendent Geoff Sheldon also remembered former Mareeba Constable Casey Blain, killed in the line of duty in 2013.

The husband and father was relieving at Georgetown when he was killed in a traffic crash.

“We’ve been policing this community for 150 years and unfortunately occasionally police officers do pay the ultimate sacrifice and lose their life,” he said.

“Whether it’s through floods, at the hands of someone attacking them or through traffic crashes, there’s a variety of incidents throughout history that have led to the deaths of police officers.”

Senior Constable Adam Blaik of Cairns Water Police said his department had its own special way of paying tribute to fallen officers.

“The vessels are all named after officers that have fallen in the line of duty,” he said.

Services were held across the region yesterday, including at Cairns, Atherton, Tully, Port Douglas, Thursday Island and Weipa.