Communications operator Wayne Lord marks 50 years with Queensland Police

Two NQ police communications operators with a century of experience between them have marked two major milestones.

Townsville Communications Centre are celebrating the retirement of Communications Group Northern Hub Inspector Ken Bemi, and 50 years of service for Communications Room Operation Wayne Lord. Picture: Shae Beplate.

Two professional police communications operators with a century of experience between them have marked two major milestones.

Communications Group Northern Hub Chief Inspector Ken Bemi is retiring while civilian communications room operator Wayne Lord, who retired as a uniformed police sergeant in 2017, is marking 50 years of service.

Inspector Jason Brosnan, 53, speaking in Townsville on Wednesday, said that to put that in perspective, Mr Lord began working as a Queensland Police officer when he was just three years’ old.

“That was in 1975, he transferred to Townsville in 1977 and has been here ever since – that is just mind-blowing.”

Inspector Brosnan said Mr Lord transitioned into the comms role, “just an amazing achievement”.

He said fellow Inspector Ken Bemi was celebrating 41 years with QPS and was three weeks away from retirement.

“Again another tremendous achievement, a bit of an amateur effort compared to Wayne, only 41 years but … a lot of people watching this today, their parents are not even 41 years of age, so when you put it into perspective, that’s just absolutely amazing,” he said.

“It’s a credit to the officers and their contributions to the people of Queensland.”

Inspector Brosnan said the levels of experience “could not be understated”.

“The amount of experience those officers have and bring, their guidance and leadership that they bring to the younger cohort coming through could never be underestimated,” he said.

“Like every organisation, we wish to hire and keep people as long as we can and they are a shining example of their years of contribution to the Queensland Police Service.”

Mr Lord, who has no plans for retirement, has served a range of duties over the course of his service, joining the communications room in 2014 where he had worked since.

“The comms room presents its own challenges in regards dealing directly with members of the public, usually by telephone and then you are also responsible for the radio transmissions to the vehicles to send them to incidents,” he said.

“It’s a different world of policing … we are very proactive looking after the safety of officers on the road and ensuring that members of the public receive the response that they require from police.”

Incidents that stood out included the 2019 Townsville floods, severe tropical cyclones Debbie in 2017 and Yasi in 2011.

“In those times the comms room played a pivotal role between the emergency services and the council(s) … together we have to form a partnership to get incidents resolved and the appropriate resources to attend.”

Mr Lord said there were multiple “unsavoury” incidents that had sprung to mind over the course of his career.

“Quite a lot when you think about the things that you have to attend over the course of your career … I was first on the scene at a fire in South Townsville with people inside, road-traffic accidents where people have been decapitated.”

Chief Inspector Bemi, who has responsibility for the Northern Hub that extends from Cairns to Maroochydore, said he did not know what had hit him as a fresh-faced officer in 1984.

“It was pretty strict discipline back in those days and you soon learn an 18-year old what the world is about.”

The Brisbane-based officer said an integral part of his role was to visit regional centres such as Cairns and Townsville “to speak to staff to ensure that if there are any issues, I can address those issues”.

He said his time in QPS flew by.

“I think the best test you can do is when you wake up each morning and say, ‘if I had my life over again, would I do the same thing?’ and in my case, I would,” he said.

“That proves to me that I definitely made the right career choice and after 41 years of reflection, I am very confident with that, and besides, it’s too late now,” he laughed.

Originally published as Communications operator Wayne Lord marks 50 years with Queensland Police