Bryson Charles ANDERSON

AKA Bryce ANDERSON, Bryson ANDERSON

Son of Rex ANDERSON, NSWPF # 8681

New South Wales Police Force

Regd. #  23020

Academy Class:  222

Rank: Police Trainee – commenced 18 August 1986,

Probationary Constable – appointed 7 November 1986,

Constable 1st Class – appointed 1991,

Detective Constable 1st Class – appointed November 1993,

Sergeant – appointed 2004,

Detective Inspector – appointed 2009,

Duty Officer – from 19 December 2010

Detective Inspector

Stations:  Goulburn Academy, Parramatta G.D’s, Granville, Ermington, C.I. Duties – Granville, Castle Hill, Task Force Boyne, Ermington, Rosehill, Special Crime, Internal Affairs, Hawkesbury L.A.C.

Service:   From  18 August 1986   to  6 December 2012 = 26 years, 3 months, 18 days Service

Age at Leaving: 45 years, 10 months, 20 days

Time in Retirement:  0

Awards:  National Medal – granted 22 July 1993 ( SenCon )

NSW Police Medal together with 1st & 2nd Clasps

Commissioner’s Unit Citation – 2003 for Highly professional investigations

1st Clasp to the National Medal – posthumously

3rd Clasp to the NSW Police Medal – posthumously

Valour Award – posthumously

Born:  Monday 16 January 1967

Died on:  Thursday 6 December 2012

Cause:  Murdered – Oakville, NSW

Age:  45 years, 10 months, 20 days

 Funeral date:  Wednesday  12 December 2012

Funeral location:  St Patrick’s Cathedral, Parramatta, NSW

Buried at:   Cremated

Memorial location:  Outside of Windsor Police Stn, NSW

Memorial dedication performed on Tuesday 6 December 2022 upon the 10 Anniversary of his Murder.

BRYSON IS mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance

The Commissioners Press conference.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-12-06/p … ck/4413626

Two people have been arrested after a senior police officer died after sustaining critical injuries in an axe attack in Sydney’s north-west.

Police say Detective Inspector Bryson Anderson was among a number of officers called to a dispute between neighbours at Scheyville Road in Oakville about 2pm (AEDT).

About two hours later, Detective Inspector Anderson was seriously injured in what is understood to have been an axe attack.

	Det Insp Bryson Anderson killed with an axe on Thu 061212

After treatment by paramedics he was rushed to Windsor Hospital in a critical condition but died a short time later.

Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said a 19-year-old man and a 42-year-old woman had been arrested at the scene and taken to Windsor Police Station where they were assisting investigators with their inquiries.

Mr Scipione said Detective Inspector Anderson was from a police family and had left a wife and three children.

“They are, as you imagine, distraught, but taking strong support from not only their immediate family, but the police family.

“We will console officers that were part of this particular operation.

“They, as you would also imagine, are traumatised and all support services have been put around them.

“I’ve got to say the strength and courage that is being shown inside (the hospital), not only by the police that are there, but also by the family, is incredible.”

Photo: Police say the officer was called to a dispute between neighbours in Oakville.

Det Insp Bryson Anderson killed with an axe on Thu 061212

Mr Scipione said he could not provide too many details of the events leading up to the attack given the investigation was in its early stages.

“I understand the (neighbourhood) dispute did involve the use of some weapons, but again having said that, we want to get to the bottom of this investigation before we start making too many statements,” he said.

“Suffice to say it was a violent neighbourhood incident that caused the police to attend and there were many police there.

“Some time after they first attended, there was an interaction which led to the death of Inspector Anderson.

“I understand they were trying to communicate with affected parties and were looking to resolve this peacefully.”

Mr Scipione said Detective Inspector Anderson had worked for him more than 10 years ago and paid tribute to his skills as an investigator.

“He was nothing short of a role model to those officers that come after him,” he said.

“Today is a stark reminder how dangerous this job is. These people do this in such a way they put their lives before the lives of others.

“You have an idea what the price is today.”

Anyone with information about the incident are being asked to call Crime Stoppers on  1800 333 000  or use the Crime Stoppers website.

RIP  Bryson

A tribute from our Commissioner

Today ( Wednesday 12 December 2012) we honour a brave man. Bryson Anderson. A police officer, and so much more.

A man who was so deeply respected by the community in which he lived, worked and devoted much of his spare time.

Valedictory for Detective Inspector Bryson Anderson

Homily for the Funeral Mass for Detective Inspector Bryson Anderson, St Patrick’s Cathedral Parramatta, Most Rev Anthony Fisher OP, Bishop of Parramatta
Wednesday, 12 December 2012 02:57:38 PM

Any death is a loss. The death of a loved one before time is worse. A senseless, violent, innocent death is even more appalling. But a death in the line of duty hits us especially hard. Why is that?

Our word police comes from the Greek word polis, meaning the city-state, its citizens and civilisation. Police are appointed to keep order in the polis and protect persons and property. The word politician comes from the same root, for they too work for the people, with our bureaucracies and courts. Yet none of these is in the front-line the way police are.

We all shelter behind our police officers’ sense of law and order, their character and courage, their instincts, reactions, negotiating and other skills. Detective Inspector Bryson Anderson devoted his life to providing such shelter for his family, friends and community. He lived for this and this was a gift to us all; he died for this and this affronts us all.

His fellow officers also mourn his passing, as Commissioner Scipione testified. I first got to know the Commissioner and his people in the lead-up to World Youth Day in Sydney in 2008. It was a time when hundreds of thousands of youth threw them kisses and told them God loved them and they loved them. If only it was always so! One such beloved of God and people was described in our first Scripture reading today (Wisdom 4:7-15). Being virtuous, untarnished and God-pleasing, the man in that passage was ready for God sooner than most.

Bryson’s fellow officers tell me he was such a man, and that his integrity inspired them. That his death has left them in shock is a sign of that bond within the police family said to be as thick as blood.

Of course, policing was literally in Bryson’s blood, as his father and brother both served in the force, Rex for many years here in Parramatta. When I saw Donna and the family after the terrible news, there were policemen present as if they were his own brothers. Such a death must make all officers aware of their own mortality, must bring to the surface daily anxiety for the safety of the public, their comrades and themselves, and so too for beloved spouses who might be widowed or children orphaned. But it also brings out into the open their fraternity and courage.

Thousands are here today to pray for Bryson and the Anderson family, to share in their natural sorrow and supernatural hope. But proud as they must be and however comforted by our presence, they still have the very personal grief of ones who’ve lost husband, father, son and brother.

Perhaps they are asking themselves: How could an argument over a bird cage end so horribly? Why do bad things happen to good people? Why does God permit such things? Well, God could have made us robots, obedient to His every command. Instead He took the great ‘gamble’ of making us free, able to choose good or evil. He does everything to persuade, encourage, inspire us to live lives of service and self-sacrifice.

Some of us do. Most of us try. Some don’t. When bushfires, floods or other natural evils hurt innocent people, we know that these are part and parcel of a world that is beautiful and bountiful but has its own law and order.

The real mystery for us is man-made evil: why human beings do terrible things to each other, why they misuse the godlike gifts of freedom and intelligence. Like those in our first reading, we “look on uncomprehending”. Few of us will face death by an assailant’s knife or have that happen in our family. But when our own crosses come, we too must try to make some sense of it. In Jesus Christ, we believe, God fully embraced our human condition, including His own violent death as an innocent man before his time.

Why was it necessary for Christ to suffer? Because that was where humanity was. To redeem us, He had to go where we are. So God became a real human being, with friends and enemies, hopes and fears, who wept for His dead friend Lazarus, and later cried out tired, frightened, abandoned.

God in Jesus Christ is the great realist: no evasion, no false front, no easy escape; no pretending away the sin of the world or the suffering of ordinary lives. But He did what any man, any God-made-man, could do.

The problem of evil drives some to atheism, some to despair. But it draws some to the Crucified One, to unite their sufferings with His, as He united His whole being with them at Christmas and beyond.

This doesn’t ‘magic away’ all that is unpleasant; we may still ache that someone we love has been stolen from us. Our hearts may be troubled as Jesus’ was (John 12:27, 13:31). But in time faith can bring new perspective, the courage to face the human condition, the grace to grow through this stage of our life, and compassion for others who suffer also.

Any faith or philosophy worthy of us must face evil straight on. Every police officer knows this. Euphemisms and positive thinking will not do; neither will glorifying evil or emptying it of its mystery. From the side of the Crucified God flows the blood and water of human life and death. But from there, too, flows hope for every hurting heart, every fragile person, even for the dead.

2012 is the sesquicentenary of the New South Wales Police Force and was supposed to be a year of celebration for them. Yet it began with the killing of Senior Constable Dave Rixon and ends with the killing of Detective Inspector Bryson Anderson. He is the 14th to be killed on duty since 1980. Death is no respecter of office, rank or character. And so this week a family, a force, a whole state join Christ in His Passion. We are joined with Him in His mortal combat with evil: proposing the good and beautiful and true to all; preventing violence and injustice where we can; comforting the victims, those who suffer for justice’s sake and those who mourn them.

In our Gospel passage, Christ called Himself the Way, the Truth and the Life for every troubled heart (John 14:1-6). His life offers us the way, as it did to Bryson, the way of justice, mercy and peace. Christ’s death offers us the truth, as it did for Bryson, the truth about human fragility and promise, freedom and intelligence for good or evil. And His Resurrection offers us the life, as it does for Bryson, life eternal for every noble soul.

2012 should have been a year of celebration for police officers and still it should be: a celebration of what is most worthy in the force and in those who bring it credit. It should have been a time of pride and joy for the Anderson family: that will come later, as they treasure what Bryson gave to them and to us all.

But for now: “We seem to be giving Bryson back to you, O God, who gave him to us.
Yet, as you did not lose him in giving him to us, so we do not lose him by his return. For
you do not give as the world gives, O Lover of souls: what you give you never take
away … For life is eternal, and love immortal, and death is only an horizon, and the
horizon is no more than the limit of our sight.

“Lift us up, strong Son of God, that we may see further. Cleanse our tearful eyes that
we may see more clearly. Draw us closer to yourself, that we may know ourselves to be
nearer to Bryson, now that he is with you. And while you prepare a place for us (John
14:1-6), prepare us also for that happy place, that where you and he are, we may be
also, for evermore.” (Prayer of Fr Bede Jarrett OP)

Detective Inspector Bryson Charles Anderson (1967-2012) – Find a Grave Memorial

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Bryson ANDERSON IS mentioned on the National Police Wall of Remembrance, Canberra

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Mitchell Barbieri and his mother Fiona plead guilty to their roles in killing of decorated officer Bryson Anderson

• Amy Dale
• The Daily Telegraph
• November 05, 201412:24PM

 

THE mother and son charged with killing decorated police officer Detective Inspector Bryson Anderson have pleaded guilty on the morning their trial was due to start.

Mitchell Barbieri pleaded guilty to murdering the 45 year old officer, while his mother, 47, pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty of the officer’s manslaughter.

The pleas came as the jury were about to be empanelled and begin to hear the opening address.

Bryson Anderson was killed on December 6, 2012, after being called to the pair’s Oakville home, in Sydney’s north west.

Fiona Barbieri’s plea to manslaughter is being accepted on the grounds of “substantial impairment”, the court heard.

It is expected a sentencing hearing will take place next year.

Mitchell Barbieri, 21, is facing a mandatory life sentence without parole for murdering a police officer.

The Supreme Court was packed with family, colleagues and friends of Det Insp Anderson, some of whom shed tears as the guilty pleas were announced.

Flanked by police officers, Det Insp Anderson’s brother Warwick Anderson thanked the investigating officers for their “support and strength” and the hard work of the DPP.

He said the family was very mindful of the officers who were with his brother on the day he died and who continued to suffer physical and psychological injuries.

“The thoughts, care and prayers of our family go out to them,” he told reporters outside court.

There was still a significant way to go for his family to come to terms with the “senseless and tragic loss of Bryson”, he said

Justice Robert Hulme adjourned the case until next Wednesday, when the Crown will begin calling evidence on sentence.

Defence counsel will give their submissions to court on November 24.

Family and friends of murdered Detective inspector Bryson Anderson and police

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David James RIXON, VA BM

New South Wales Police Force

Goulburn Police Academy Class # 247

Regd. # 27947

Rank:  Commenced Training at Goulburn Police Academy as a Junior Trainee on Sunday 28 October 1990 ( aged 19 years, 2 months, 30 days )

Probationary Constable – appointed 26 April 1991 ( aged 19 years, 8 months, 26 days )

Constable – appointed 26 April 1992

Senior Constable – death

Stations:  Hamilton, Belmont G.D’s, Waratah HWP from 12 February 1995, Gunnedah HWP from 7 May 1995, then Tamworth HWP from 14 July 1996 – Death

Served:  From 28 October 1990 to 2 March 2012 = 21 years, 4 months & 3 days Service

Awards:  Commissioners Valour Award ( VA ) – posthumously

Bravery Medal ( BM ) – posthumously awarded

Born:  Saturday  31 July 1971

Died:  Friday  2 March 2012

Age:  40 years & 7 months

Cause:  Shot – Murdered

Event location:  outside 10 – 12 Lorraine Street, West Tamworth, NSW

Funeral date: Thursday  8 March 2012 @ 10.30am

Funeral location:  St Paul`s Anglican Church, Church St. Tamworth

Grave location:  lawn portion of the Tamworth Regional Council Cemetery, Showground Rd. Tamworth.

GPS:  -31.0903969,  150.9007111

David IS mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance

SenCon David Rixon
Senior Constable

Father of six, shot and killed at Tamworth, NSW, Australia, today Friday 2 March 2012. May you forever Rest In Peace with the rest of our Brothers and Sisters who have paid the ultimate price in Policing.

There is a memorial fund to support the family of S/C Rixon who are dealing with a loss at this time. Donations can be made to this fund with the following details: Account name: David Rixon Memorial Fund, Account number : 269978 (add S1 at the end for Internal transfer by PCU members) Police Credit Union BSB: 815000

RIXON, David James
Dearly loved husband of Fiona
Loving father of Renae, Jemma, Scott, Mathew, Hayley and Patrick.

Loved son, stepson and son-in-law of Gwen & Max Russell, Ken Rixon, Kathryn & Robert Brooking, loved step brother and brother-in-law of Katie and Beau, Tammy, Leanne (dec), Rachelle, Nadina and Damien.
The relatives and friends of David Rixon were respectfully invited to attend his funeral.

The Service was appointed to commence at 10.30 am, Thursday, 8th March, 2012, at St Paul`s Anglican Church, Church St. Tamworth, thence for interment in the lawn portion of the Tamworth Regional Council Cemetery, Showground Rd. Tamworth.

Presented to the family.

NSW policeman honoured after on-duty death

It was meant to be a regular day for Tamworth police officer and father-of-six David Rixon.

The NSW highway patrol officer was carrying out a routine breath check in 2012 when the driver, Michael Jacobs, pulled out a revolver and shot him in the chest.

He returned fire, hitting Jacobs in the abdomen, leg and shoulder, called for back-up and handcuffed Jacobs before collapsing.

His killer went on to receive life-saving surgery and a life sentence.

But Senior Constable Rixon died at the scene, leaving behind a heartbroken wife and six children.

Three years later, he has been honoured for his bravery.

Sen Const Rixon is one of 25 people to receive an Australian Bravery Decoration on Wednesday from Governor-General Peter Cosgrove.

Mr Cosgrove says Sen Const Rixon and the other recipients are a source of courage, support and inspiration, but he acknowledged there can be devastating consequences resulting from their bravery.

“Sadly, there are those whose brave acts mean they are no longer with us,” he said.

“Today, to their families, I express the nation’s sadness at your loss but pride in your loved ones’ actions.”

The Australian Bravery Decorations recognise acts of bravery by members of the community who selflessly put themselves in jeopardy to protect the lives or property of others.

The recipients are nominated by members of the public, with the governor-general deciding the awards.

They vary from Mustafa Ruhi Akkan and Nattapat Penpanussak, who helped police apprehend a man who stabbed three backpackers in 2000, to Jamie Alan Strong, for helping rescue two people trapped in a burning house in 2014.

One of the highest honours, the Star of Courage, is awarded to a 21-year-old RAAF pilot named James Wallace Hocking.

In 1944, he saved his crew and the English township of March by flying his stricken bomber away from civilian danger. He died when the plane crashed into a nearby field.

There are four levels of decoration and a Group Bravery Citation, an award for a group of people involved in a single incident. They are the Cross of Valour, the Star of Courage, the Bravery Medal, Commendation for Brave Effort and the Group Bravery Citation.

AWARDS SINCE 1975

• 5 Cross of Valour

• 146 Star of Courage

• 1217 Bravery Medals

• 1926 Commendations for Brave Conduct

• 157 Group Bravery Citations

https://au.news.yahoo.com/nsw/a/29293039/nsw-policeman-honoured-after-on-duty-death/

An officer and a gentleman: Remembering Senior Constable David Rixon a year on

By Kitty Hill

March 1, 2013, noon

A SOMBRE anniversary falls today as police officers and community members join the family in remembering fallen Tamworth police officer Senior Constable David Rixon a year after his death.

On March 2, 2012, Senior Constable Rixon was fatally shot on a routine traffic stop in West Tamworth.

Senior Constable Rixon’s wife Fiona and their children will be joined by officers from across the state to mark the anniversary, many of whom have spent the past week completing a charity walk in his honour.

Officers will form a sombre march to Tamworth Police Station to arrive at 8am, where the flag will be lowered to stand at half mast.

NSW Police Commissioner, Andrew Scipione, will unveil a plaque honouring Senior Constable Rixon, during a ceremony at Tamworth Community Centre at 11am.

Fiona Rixon said she will take a private moment during the day to remember her husband, the man who she described as her “other half”.

“He was my best friend, we did absolutely everything together, everything,” she said.

About 60 police officers of the 140 who walked arrived in Tamworth last night after a 370km journey titled “Our Mates, Our Families,” which began in Wyong last Monday.

Rainy weather welcomed the walkers as they completed the last few kilometres of their 10-day trek, ending at the Longyard Hotel.

Senior Constable Rixon’s stepdaughter and Probationary Constable Jemma Galea, who walked alongside four officers from the Oxley Local Area Command, said today’s memorial services would be bittersweet for her and her family.

“I guess it’s hard to say how it will affect you until the day,” Probationary Constable Galea said.

Completing the last of the walk alongside her mother yesterday, she was wearing the bright pink cap she wore for the the duration of the walk.

The cap was the subject of a personal joke between her and her stepfather.

“David said to me when I bought it, ‘When are you ever going to wear that hat?’” Probationary Constable Galea said.

“So now I wear it, to remember him.”

Ms Galea said the walk was harder than expected, and she was full of “sore muscles, blisters and a bit of sunburn”, and everyone was looking forward to a hot shower before the fundraising event at Wests’ Diggers last night.

The walkers camped along the way, passing through six police local area commands, many of whom sent officers to Tamworth to help out in the days and weeks after the tragedy.

Organising police from Tuggerah Lakes said they were inspired by the Cooee recruitment march, a famous walk that began in Gilgandra in 1915 with 35 men, its ranks swelling to 265 by its end in Sydney, all eager to join the Australian war effort for WWI.

Oxley Local Area Commander Superintendent Clint Pheeney said his officers were honoured to take part in the walk, and ceremony, to remember their former colleague.

“David’s death was heartbreaking for all of us at Oxley Local Area Command,” Superintendent Pheeney said.

“But when a police officer is killed it’s not only the local police and their immediate colleagues who are touched, it’s the entire police force and community as a whole.”

“I’m extremely proud of all the officers who have taken part in the gruelling walk as it shows their resolve and determination to honour their mate, and to raise funds for not only his family, but the families of other fallen officers.

“I’m particularly proud of all of David’s colleagues here at Tamworth who have continued to do their job on a daily basis since his death, even though all their hearts have been broken.

“David has never been far from our minds and this will certainly be the case tomorrow, especially during the ceremony. The plaque will serve as a permanent honour to him in the community and one I’m sure all who knew him will be extremely proud of.”

Commissioner Scipione said the relay-style walk from Wyong Police Station to Tamworth was raising money for both the NSW Police Legacy and the David Rixon Memorial Fund.

“Last year we experienced the tragedy of losing two of our officers and so we all have extremely heavy hearts today,” Commissioner Scipione said. “However the ceremony gives us the opportunity to reflect on Senior Constable Rixon’s life and career, and to remember the outstanding husband, father, friend and colleague that he was.

“The walk and ceremony are testimony to the honour that exists among those who have chosen to become part of the police profession. It also demonstrates our respect, our grief and our resolve to continue, despite the hardships that may confront us.”

The official ceremony will take place at 11am at Tamworth Community Centre in Darling St.

• Amy Dale, Chief Court Reporter
• The Daily Telegraph
• October 04, 20132:45PM

THE man who shot Senior Constable David Rixon has become the first person jailed for the term of his natural life for murdering a police officer.

Michael Allan Jacobs has this afternoon been sentenced to life with no parole for murdering Sen-Constable Rixon, the crime described by Justice Richard Button as “a life irrevocably taken”.

Jacobs is the first person to be convicted of murdering a police officer since the O’Farrell government introduced legislation in 2011 to ensure such an offence is punished by a sentence of life with no parole.

He said the murder of a police officer “is a direct assault on the system of parliamentary democracy and the rule of law.”

“The offender informed the intention to kill him,” Justice Button said.

“That intention may have been held utterly fleetingly and irrationally … but it has been established to a criminal standard.”

Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione and NSW Police Minister Mike Gallacher joined more than 20 police officers in court for the landmark sentence.

Sen-Constable Rixon was shot once in the chest with a bullet fired from a .38 calibre revolver after approaching Jacobs’ stopped Holden Statesman for a random breath test early on March 2 last year.

The policeman returned fire and hit Jacobs three times, leaving the man with “an out of control drug addiction” critically wounded, before he collapsed from his injuries.

“The offender almost died from his injuries,” Justice Button said, adding that in his dying moments Sen-Constable Rixon had handcuffed Jacobs to arrest him.

The court heard Jacobs screamed “ah die, I’m sorry sir, sorry” just after the shooting and while “lying gravely wounded could be heard repeatedly saying ‘I’m sorry.'”

But Justice Button said he couldn’t be more satisfied “that the offender is responsible for this murder.”

Police arrived shortly after the shooting but Sen-Constable Rixon couldn’t be revived, while Jacobs received lifesaving surgery and eventually recovered after spending more than a month in hospital.

The Crown claimed he was high on ice at the time, making him more prone to aggression, and shot the policeman to avoid being locked up and convicted for repeatedly driving unlicensed.

Justice Button said of Jacobs‘s motive to avoid “being briefly refused bail or at worst a sentence of a matter of months … the offender saw fit to fire a handgun at a police officer.”

He said Sen-Constable Rixon would have had “less than a second before the shot was fired.”

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David Rixon murder: Michael Jacobs gets life in jail

Date  October 4, 2013

Paul Bibby

Court Reporter

The sun had only recently risen over the roof of Tamworth police station when the white, dark-windowed bus arrived.

One by one about 30 officers filed on and settled in for a six-hour journey that they hoped would end with justice for a fallen comrade and perhaps a small measure of closure for those left behind.

Eight hours and 400 kilometres later, a NSW Supreme Court Justice gave the family, friends and colleagues of murdered police officer Senior Constable David Rixon the result they desired – a life sentence for the man responsible for his death.

In a landmark decision, Michael Alan Jacobs, 49, became the first person sentenced to life in prison under new laws requiring a mandatory life sentence for anyone who murders an on-duty police officer in NSW.

”Let this serve as an example to all those in the future who think it’s OK to harm our police officers,” NSW Police Minister Mike Gallacher said after the sentence was handed down.

”This decision today draws a line in the sand.”

Nearly a quarter of the Oxley Local Area Command were present to hear the sentence, forming a guard of honour as Senior Constable Rixon‘s widow, Fiona Rixon, and their children left the court.

”I’m very proud of my children – we’ve been through this hurricane, tornado, roller-coaster ride, whatever you want to call it, for the last 18 months,” an emotional Mrs Rixon said.

”Hopefully now life will be a little bit more quiet.”

On March 2 last year, Jacobs shot and killed Senior Constable Rixon, a 40-year-old father of six, during what was to have been a regulation breath test on Lorraine Street, West Tamworth.

During a month-long trial earlier this year, the court was told that the experienced highway patrolman had recognised Jacobs as a disqualified driver and followed him from nearby Gunnedah Road to the quiet side street.

Senior Constable Rixon’s police microphone recorded him saying ”G’day mate, how you going?”

In an increasingly distressed voice he is then heard to say: ”I’m just gonna breath test you, buddy.”

Jacobs then fired a single shot from a .38 calibre pistol that went straight through Constable Rixon’s left wrist and into his chest, puncturing his heart and lung.

The officer returned fire, hitting Jacobs in the leg, abdomen and shoulder. He collapsed soon after.

Jacobs is heard to say ”die … I’m sorry sir, sorry, sorry”.

The officer’s last act was to handcuff his killer.

Jacobs later claimed that it was not he but a local drug dealer, Terrence James Price, who fired the fatal shot after the policeman ”interrupted” them in the middle of a drug deal, but this was rejected by the jury.

In sentencing Jacobs to life in prison, Justice Richard Button said the 49-year-old had no apparent motive for committing the crime and had shown little or no remorse.

”It is almost impossible to believe that, in order to avoid a short period of being denied bail or, at worst, a sentence of a matter of months for driving whilst disqualified, the offender saw fit to fire a handgun at a police officer,” he said.

”The murder of a police officer in such circumstances is a direct assault upon our system of parliamentary democracy and the rule of law.”

As well as providing some relief to Senior Constable Rixon’s family and fellow officers, the life sentence represents a landmark decision for the state’s mandatory life sentencing laws.

Jacobs’ case was seen by many as a test of the laws, introduced in 2011, which require judges to impose a life sentence on any offender found guilty of murdering an on-duty police officer.

Crucially, Justice Button found that Jacobs’ crime met all the criteria set out in the mandatory life sentence legislation, including that he had acted with the intention to kill the officer.

”That intention may have been held only fleetingly and utterly irrationally, but nevertheless I consider that it has been established to the criminal standard,” he said.

”The result is that the mandatory life sentence is to be imposed.”

William Arthur George CREWS  VA

aka  Bill, Will, Crewsy

New South Wales Police Force

Goulburn Police Academy Class # ???

Regd. # 42481

Rank:  Commenced Training at Goulburn Police Academy on 25 June 2006

Probationary Constable – appointed 30 January 2007

Constable – appointed ? ? ?

Final Rank:  Posthumously promoted to Detective Constable

Service:  From ? ? ? to 9 September 2010 = ? years Service

Stations:  Bathurst, Campsie, Bankstown

Cause:  Accidentally Shot – friendly fire

Event location:  Cairds Avenue, Bankstown

Born:  Tuesday  29 May 1984

Died on:  Thursday  9 September, 2010

Age:  26 years, 3 months, 11 days

Funeral:  16 September 2010 at St Andrew’s Cathedral, central Sydney, NSW

The constable was accidentally shot during the execution of a search warrant in Bankstown on 9 September, 2010. He was posthumously awarded Commissioner’s Valour Award.

At the time of his death the constable was aged 26 years and had joined the New South Wales Police Force in 2007.

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/shot-officer-awarded-posthumous-promotion-and-valour-medal-20100916-15dib.html

Shot officer awarded posthumous promotion and valour medal

Date    September 16, 2010

William Crews remembered at funeral

Tributes to William Crews from his brother and the NSW Police Commissioner at his funeral in Sydney.

NSW police officer William Crews, who died during a drug raid a week ago, has been posthumously awarded the Police Commissioner’s Valour Award and promoted to detective.

The 26-year-old trainee detective had been with the force for just three years when he was accidentally shot by a fellow police officer during the operation in Sydney’s southwest on September 9.

He loved his job and gave it everything that he could offer and I believe that this was why he was so successful in his chosen profession. He was a larrikin and loved to laugh but also knew when the job had to be done.

About 5000 well-wishers, mostly made up of members of the NSW Police Force and including members of the emergency services, public and political leaders, gathered in and outside of St Andrew’s Cathedral in central Sydney to pay their respects at his funeral.

Officers carry the coffin into the cathedral. Photo: Peter Rae

After graduating from Goulburn Police Academy in 2007, the newly promoted Detective Constable Crews served at Campsie Local Area Command before he was rapidly promoted to the Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad earlier this year.

It was an extraordinary achievement, NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said at his funeral today.

“William was not in the NSW Police Force for long, but by anyone’s record, he was on a rapid upward path,” he said.

Fellow officers carry the coffin to the altar. Photo: Peter Rae

Positions within the State Crime Command were highly sought after, Mr Scipione added.

“It is a place where our most-skilled detectives want to go,” he said.

“If you get there at all, it’s usually after a long apprenticeship.

William Crews.

“If you get there quickly, it is because you have something that sets you apart.

“And William had that certain something.”

Along with the Valour Award, for “conspicuous merit and exceptional bravery” during the raid at Bankstown, Mr Scipione also posthumously promoted Constable Crews to the rank of detective.

The detective constable’s coffin, draped with the Australian flag and native flowers, was carried into the church by officers including his brother, Constable Ben Crews. ( #41398 ).

Moments earlier, a pianist played an uplifting version of the pop music ballad He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother.

Ben Crews described his younger brother as a larrikin who loved to laugh, loved his job and motor bikes, camping and farm life.

“He was man of great achievement, a man of integrity, a man of loyalty and a man of honour, a man of ethics and, lastly, a man who never gave up and kept fighting to the end,” Ben Crews said.

“I will never forget you and miss you with all that I have.

“I know you will be looking down upon us today with that smile which touched and enriched the lives of so many, thinking how lucky you were to be loved so much by so many people.

“Rest in peace mate.”

Senior Constable Ben Kemp ( #34819 ) from Det Const Crews‘ home town of Glen Innes, where it is believed he will be buried, told police mourners the fallen officer was a reason for them to keep getting up each day to go to work.

“His legacy is our legacy …” he said.

“He is 15,000 of us …

“He made a difference.”

The Anglican Archbishop of Sydney Dr Peter Jensen said the family had set an example for the community on how to grieve.

They had met with the officer who accidentally shot Det Const Crews to assure him they did not hold him responsible for his death.

“In particular, we want to thank you for showing us how to forgive,” Archbishop Jensen said.

“Like it or not, some people in your position may have responded with anger and even cries for vengeance.”

After the service, police officers formed a guard of honour down George Street.

The funeral procession included mounted police, a police band and colleagues from Campsie Local Area Command and the Middle East Crime Squad.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/shot-officer-awarded-posthumous-promotion-and-valour-medal-20100916-15dib.html#ixzz2JwkU56iw

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/a-courageous-larrikin-who-gave-his-life/story-e6frg6nf-1225925057994

A courageous larrikin who gave his life

He is their hero, our hero, my hero.
He is Will Crews. May he rest in peace.

STAY STRONG BROTHER

Those words commemorate a great man.

http://www.news.com.au/national-news/nsw-act/prosecutors-to-appeal-seven-year-sentence-given-to-philip-nguyens-who-was-responsible-for-the-death-of-william-crews/story-fndo4bst-1226608221814

Prosecutors to appeal seven year sentence given to Philip Nguyen’s who was responsible for the death of William Crews

Amy Dale

• The Daily Telegraph
• March 28, 2013 9:54AM

PROSECUTORS will appeal the seven year sentence given to Philip Nguyen, the man responsible for the death of trainee detective William Crews. NSW Attorney General Greg Smith released a statement this morning saying he has been informed by the DPP Lloyd Babb SC that they “have decided to appeal against the sentence handed down to Philip Nguyen.”

The 57-year-old was sentenced to at least seven years behind bars, but with time already in custody he will be eligible for release in September 2017.

He pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Constable Crews, who was killed from a bullet to the neck while on a raid of a Bankstown garage in September 2010.

The gunshot which killed the promising 26-year-old officer came from his colleague’s gun, but the court found Nguyen had been responsible for the death by starting a shoot-out with police.

In sentencing him to a maximum of nine years and six months in prison, Justice Elizabeth Fullerton said “although he didn’t fire the shot which killed him, he caused his death.”

Mr Smith and Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said on the day of Nguyen’s sentence earlier this month they hoped the DPP would appeal.

Constable Crews’ father Kel said outside the courtroom following the sentence “it doesn’t seem to us to be appropriate for our family, for the police and for the community.”

“He has given his life in the line of duty, we have been sentenced to life- the sentence that has been given down has been nothing to what we have been sentenced to,” Mr Crews said.

The matter will be mentioned in the Court of Criminal Appeal later this year.

 

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http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/first-interview-policeman-who-shot-constable-bill-crews-talks-about-the-pain-of-the-dark-day-that-claimed-his-mate8217s-life/story-fni0cx12-1226694791012?sv=21594397341dde5ed0034d1b90af49ac#.UgcRY52gDmI.facebook

First interview: Policeman who shot Constable Bill Crews talks about the pain of the dark day that claimed his mate’s life

• Yoni Bashan
• News Limited Network
• August 11, 2013 12:00AM

THE incident lasted just 2.8 seconds – from the time police shouted “search warrant” to the last of five bullets being fired. For three years Detective Senior Constable Dave Roberts, 42, has been struggling to understand how a routine warrant ended with his mate killed from a bullet he fired.”For a long time I couldn’t think clearly about the matter,” Roberts said.

In 2010, his team from the Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad were in the carpark of a Bankstown unit block to search drug supplier Philip Nguyen, 55.

It was considered so low-risk that detectives walked into the garage without guns drawn.

Constable Crews, 26, had just joined the squad as a highly recommended recruit. He was carrying a folder under his arm.

Extensive intelligence checks would tell police Nguyen was not armed.

Then they spotted him.

Roberts remembers an incredibly cramped space, Nguyen walking quickly out of his garage, the muzzle of his gun flashing as it fired, and Crews promptly returning fire three times.

“I’ve dropped what I was holding, drew my gun and fired once,” he said. “All that took less than three seconds.”

His words slow as he recalls regrouping with his colleagues behind a brick wall when the shooting stopped. They realised Bill was missing.

“We were looking down the garage … we saw Bill lying motionless.”

He exhales deeply before continuing.

“I was expecting to see Nguyen on the ground as well. I was hoping like crazy my round had struck him.

“About 10 seconds after it dawned on me that my round may have struck Bill.” Roberts‘ world fell apart after that night – his colleagues’ too. The commanding officer who approved the warrant later quit the force and to this day blames himself for the whole incident.

Another detective who saw the tragedy unfold self-medicates with alcohol and medication. He is a mess.

Roberts suffered the most. He has held his silence since but agreed to share his story in the hope it might assist others suffering extreme trauma.

His path has been a lonely one. It is the only friendly fire case in NSW Police Force history where a policeman has died in the line of duty.

After the incident he was taken to hospital and treated for injuries caused during a grief-stricken rage. His knuckles still bear the scars from that night as he tried to punch holes through brick walls inside the garage.

He woke to discover Nguyen was in custody and uninjured, ending any hope his bullet struck its intended target.

A carload of senior police would arrive on his doorstep later that evening to break the news his bullet struck Crews.

“That was one of the worst days of my life.”

At his lowest point Roberts was gambling heavily and dependent on Xanax to regulate his moods. He also began experiencing debilitating panic attacks. He had previously never gone near a poker machine now he was addicted. His marriage of 18 years nearly collapsed.

“I lost thousands over a 12-month period. Initially I played low amounts _ $10 at a time _ but on occasions I would put in $500. It was an escape … a very expensive way to numb the mind.”

With the help of sessions at a post-traumatic stress clinic he managed to walk away from gambling in April last year but there would be other struggles.

Crews’ desk had been left untouched when he returned to work a month after the incident. Little reminders of him were everywhere. They exchanged two emails just before heading off that night.

“I’ve only just deleted them,” Roberts said. “I kept them for two years.

“When I hit send on those emails everything was good. Bill was still alive. They’re a painful reminder.” Compounding his grief were reports suggesting the search was “botched”, implying he was clumsy or ill-prepared.

“It hits hard,” he said. “I knew the word `botched’ wasn’t a nice word. I looked it up and the definition is everything I’m not.”

Nguyen‘s solicitor would later assert in court that Roberts, a stickler for safety precaution, was the only officer wearing a ballistic vest that night. Incorrect. Another detective, Tom Howes ( # 40442 ) was wearing body armour – and for good reason. Howes was with Roberts the night of December 27, 2007, when a Comanchero bikie pointed a gun in their direction during a traffic stop, prompting two shots to be fired.

Both officers, ever since, insist on body armour.

Until just a few months ago, Roberts said he could not forgive himself. Nagging questions were dogging his mind. What if he had aimed better? What if the bullet had been two centimetres to the right? What if the gun was angled higher?

He would return to the Bankstown garage several months after the shooting with two police colleagues – one a tactical weapons expert, the other a detective – to reconstruct the incident and seek their impartial advice.

Statistically it was impossible to replicate the circumstances of the shooting. The whole thing was a tragic, freakish one-in-a-million, they said.

“I beat myself up for a long time over this,” Roberts said, citing family, close friends, police colleagues and the police chaplain, Frank, as those who brought him back from his living hell. “I don’t `what if‘ so much anymore. I don’t blame myself anymore.”

Nguyen has been sentenced to seven years jail over the death of Crews that night. Prosecutors have appealed, saying the punishment was “manifestly inadequate“.

Roberts is still in the force, but in a different command. He has several important reasons for staying – he wants to set a positive example for people and show life can go on after even the worst tragedies. The job, he says, is an extremely noble profession. But a major factor that is close to his heart is Crews‘ mother. “I made a promise to Sharon … She said if we left the cops it would compound her grief.”

On September 8, the anniversary of Crews’ death, Roberts will visit the memorial. Every year he goes by himself, looks at Crews‘ name, and remembers that night and his colleague in private.

“There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about what happened and not a day goes by where I don’t think about Bill. And there hasn’t been for the past three years.

“I think about Bill only being a young man and he had everything ahead of him.

“I know he was well-loved by his family, by his friends.

“I know there isn’t a day that goes by (that) they wouldn’t miss him either.”

 

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Officer’s death hits local police hard

By BRENDAN ARROW

Sept. 10, 2010, 7:34 a.m.

POLICE in the Chifley Local Area Command have been personally affected by the death of trainee detective William Crews.

The 26-year-old died in a Sydney hospital after he was shot while carrying out a drug operation on Wednesday night with seven other officers from the Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad in Bankstown, in Sydney’s south-west.

The officers were fired upon outside the targeted property in Cairds Avenue about 9pm. Constable Crews was hit in the head and neck.

Philip Nguyen, 55, has since been charged with shooting with intent to murder and discharging a firearm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Geehad Ghazi, 27, has been charged with possession of an unauthorised firearm.

Yesterday, Acting Inspector Lionel White said the tragic situation in Sydney had personally impacted on a number of officers who knew Constable Crews.

“It is a very shocking situation, a couple of the officers here at the Bathurst Police Station knew him and have been left very upset by the situation,” he said.

“Some of the officers worked with him and trained with him before he became a detective.

“For those officers, we are offering them support and counselling during this tough time.”

Reminding people of those officers who lost their lives in the Bathurst area in the line of duty is a memorial board naming the 13 policemen who have died in the line of duty.

Since Trooper Robert Lovell McDougall died in 1853 near Sofala, 12 officers have fallen in the line of duty in Bathurst area with Sergeant Paul Mitchell Quinn the last, on the March 30, 1986.

Acting Inspector White said the latest death in Sydney brought to the forefront the difficult circumstances that police can find themselves in daily.

“On top of the very mundane things we do every day this is a stark reminder of the dangers police officers can face while in the front line,” he said. “This very much reminded us of the risk officers sometimes have to take while in the line of duty.

“It is a great tragedy.”

http://www.westernadvocate.com.au/story/911623/officers-death-hits-local-police-hard/

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Bill Crews inquest: Errors in planning, execution of drug raid contributed to police officer’s death

By Claire Aird

Updated Mon 21 September 2015 at 5:29pm

Photo: Constable Bill Crews died after being accidentally shot by a fellow officer in 2010. (Police Media)

Related Story: Dramatic footage shows chaos after shooting of officer Bill Crews

Related Story: Raid in which officer was killed ‘mistakenly classified’

An inquest into the shooting death of a Sydney police officer in a botched drugs raid five years ago has found errors in the planning and execution of a search warrant, stemming from “inadequate training” and “ineffective supervision”.

Constable William ‘Bill’ Crews was unintentionally shot by a colleague in returning fire from a drug dealer, in the underground car park of an apartment block at Bankstown in Sydney’s south west in September 2010.

He later died in hospital.

In handing down his findings, New South Wales Coroner Michael Barnes said Crews was killed as a result of “cascading, compounding errors“.

“Sadly, it seems likely that had these errors not occurred Bill Crews may not have died,” Mr Barnes said.

Outside the Glebe Coroners Court, Crew’s father Kelvin Crews said he was emotional.

“Our family has tragically been affected for the rest of our lives,” he said.

“It’s a tragic incident that’s occurred and we never want it to happen again.”

Young and ‘relatively junior’

Crews was “a good bloke and a good cop” committed to learning his new role as a detective in the Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad.

On September 8, 2010, the 26-year-old was one of several “relatively junior detectives”, who thought they were attending a routine search after being tipped off about a man dealing cocaine and heroin from a garage to Middle Eastern crime families, including the Hamze and Kalache families.

None of them had advanced weapons training and none were prepared for what unfolded, according to the coroner.

When the group, led by Crews, entered the basement, they headed towards the wrong garage.

Affected by drugs and with little English, 58-year-old Philip Nguyen fired on the seven undercover officers who were not displaying identification, thinking they were robbers.

Detective Senior Constable Dave Roberts returned fired whilst trying to get cover.

The coroner said Detective Senior Constable Roberts did not know exactly where Crews was at the time and his movement meant he could not control where his gun was pointing when it fired.

This is contrary to police procedures and training.

Risk assessment ‘critically compromised’

Police expected a drug deal would occur at Nguyen’s garage that night involving Middle Eastern crime families; however, the operation was deemed low-risk.

The NSW coroner was highly critical of the risk assessment and its approval by more senior ranking officers.

The court heard Detective Inspector Michael Ryan ( # 20029 ) sought to downplay the risks by suggesting Nguyen, an Asian male, was less likely to possess weapons or attack police because “Asians tend to be businessmen”.

Inspector Ryan also asserted the Kalache family was “a spent force”.

Mr Barnes said the risk assessment was also informed by inadequate intelligence gathering and reconnaissance, which could have prevented the officers attending the wrong garage that night.

“To merely drive by the premises and stop outside briefly when two inhabitants of the unit block were able to facilitate access was unwise and unnecessarily scant,” Mr Barnes said.

The coroner noted NSW Police had made improvements in the way risk assessments were now conducted and in training and oversight.

Whilst body armour would not have saved Crews, the coroner also noted NSW Police was planning to introduce soft body armour vests that would clearly identify the wearer as a police officer.

“I am satisfied NSW Police has rigorously engaged with each of the inadequacies highlighted by the circumstances in which Detective Bill Crews died,” Mr Barnes said.

Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione has refused to say if he would consider disciplinary action against the officers involved, saying he would need to first read the coroner’s report.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-21/bill-crews-shooting-inquest-finds-errors-in-plan-execution/6791412

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Steven John ROSER

New South Wales Police Force

Regd. #  ?

Rank:  Student Police Officer ( Civilian )

ADPP 25

Stations:  NSW Police Academy, Goulburn

Service:  nil

Awards:  nil

Born: ? ? 1982

Died on:  14 June 2006

Cause:  Illness

Location: NSW Police Academy, Goulburn

Age:  23

Funeral date:  ?

Funeral location:  ?

Buried at:  ?

Monument:  ?

 [alert_yellow]STEVEN is NOT mentioned on the National Police Wall of Remembrance but IS mentioned on the NSW State Wall of Remembrance[/alert_yellow]

On the 14 June 2006 the student police officer was undergoing police recruit training at the New South Wales Police Academy. During a physical training run to a park in Goulburn the student collapsed and was unable to be revived.

The student police officer was born in 1982. At the time of his death he was undergoing initial police training at the New South Wales Police Academy, Goulburn.