CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS REMEMBER STAFF WHO LOST THEIR LIVES

Correctional officers across the State will pause from work next Friday 29 November to hold ceremonies for Corrective Services NSW Remembrance Day.

The High Risk Management Centre and Berrima and Goulburn Correctional Centres will be among the centres where officers, families and friends will gather to remember frontline officers who have fallen in the line of duty.

Member for Goulburn Wendy Tuckerman MP said the day is an opportunity for the community to reflect on the challenges faced by officers both past and present.

“This CSNSW Remembrance Day we pay tribute to the courage and dedication of our correctional officers, who work in a dangerous and difficult profession with often little public recognition,” Ms Tuckerman said.

“We join the CSNSW family in mourning the loss of frontline officers who have paid the ultimate sacrifice and lost their lives in the line of duty.”

The annual CSNSW Remembrance Day also commemorates the lives of staff who died while serving and those who passed away after retiring.

Minister for Counter Terrorism and Corrections Anthony Roberts acknowledged the devastating impact of the deaths.

“When we send our husbands, brothers, mothers or daughters to work in a prison each day, we expect them to return home safely to us,” Mr Roberts said.

“We acknowledge the devastating loss suffered by the family, friends and colleagues of these men, who never came home. We will never forget them or their sacrifice.”

The first officer killed on duty was Henry Kingsmill Abbott at Parramatta Gaol in 1842. Courageously standing his ground to foil an escape, he was brutally shot by prisoners.

The most recent custodial officer to lose his life in the line of duty was Wayne Harold Smith, who was attacked by an inmate at Silverwater Correctional Centre in December 2006. Tragically, he passed away on 25 January 2007 as a result of his injuries.