Former SafeNight commander is keen to get back in uniform after QPS announced plan to re-hire retired police

Ex-Sergeant Ian Reimers didn’t want to go when he hit the QPS mandatory retirement age, and knows of plenty of colleagues with more to give. Now a plan is in motion to get people like Ian back on the beat.

Former Sergeant Ian Reimers was not ready to retire when he was piped-out of the Toowoomba Police Station in 2017.

But the mandatory retirement age policy meant he had to go.

Before long, the dedicated officer found his way back into the station, taking a job as an administration officer in the property crime team before retiring a second time.

Now he is eyeing off a second return to the Queensland Police Service, after it announced plans to establish a pool of former officers who could be called on to relieve staff shortages.

“I am seriously considering it because I always believed that just because you turn 60 you it does not mean you are no longer useful to the service,” Mr Reimers said.

“There are a lot of police who are ready to retire at 60 but I would say there are almost as many who would want to stay on.”

Former Sergeant Ian Reimers said he loved his time as a front line police office and is keen to come back to the service as a ‘special constable.’ This photo of Mr Reimers was taken during a traffic operation on May 26, 2006.

This photo of former Safe Night Out precinct operations commander Sergeant Ian Reimers (left) and the then-Toowoomba City Patrol Group officer Inspector Mark Wheeler was taken while Mr Reimers still on the job. Photo: Bev Lacey / The Chronicle

The new policy would expand the concept of the QPS ‘special constables’ to include former officers who would be called on during periods of peak demand who could support frontline staff.

It was introduced to the Queensland Parliament on Wednesday and is expected to pass.

The government has confirmed the special constables would not be included in the state’s recruitment target.

Mr Reimers spent the last 13 years of his time as a sworn officer as the commander of the Toowoomba SafeNight precinct operations.

He said he was not ready to retire and that his advanced age was a strength because it brought maturity and experience.

“I was on the front line dealing with alcohol-fuel violence and I was able to set the tone of what was happening downtown,” Mr Reimers said.

“I used body language and tone to de-escalation situations and in every situation I had the voice of experience and the ability to assess and reassess what was happening.

“That is experience you cannot buy.”

Then-Constable Troy Amos and former Sergeant Ian Reimers view CCTV as police investigate an armed robbery at Freedom Fuels service station on corner of Taylor and Greenwattle Streets where the offender used a broken bottle as a weapon on June 28, 2008.

The announcement comes as the QPS looks at new ways to cover a recruitment deficit that include fast tracking the hiring process for about 500 overseas officers, waiving the fees for entry tests and lowering the recruitment age.

Securing a position as a ‘special constable’ does come with conditions, including passing a fitness test.

While Mr Reimers was still an active cricketer, he said he would have to assess his fitness to do the job.

“The great thing about the QPS is that there you can alway find your niche or find your role, whether that is in criminal investigations, protecting children in the Child Protection Investigation Unit or as a road policing officer,” he said.

“While in the SafeNight command I thought of myself as a parent and what sort of place I wanted downtown to be if they were my kids out having a good time.

“I had immense job satisfaction and when I walked out on that last day I thought, ‘what am I doing out here, I should be back in the station.”