Police officer Jason Doig remembered in Lucindale 12 months after he was killed on duty in Senior, north of Bordertown
It’s been almost a year since this small town was left reeling by an event most never would have thought possible.
SA News
Don't miss out on the headlines from SA News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
There’s only two framed prints mounted high on the vast back wall of the Lucindale community hub.
One is an official portrait of the late Queen Elizabeth II.
The other features Brevet Sergeant Jason Doig, the town’s longest-serving police officer, who was shot dead while attending a late-night call-out north of Bordertown last November.
On print of Sgt Doig features are the letters WYSIWYG – an acronym for the old saying What You See Is What You Get. It’s a maxim locals reckon sums up the bloke, who they knew simply as Jase or Doigy, quite well.
The next most prominent words on the tribute simply state: “The residents of Lucindale will remember.”
And they do.
Nearly 12 months since Sgt Doig, 53, became the first SA officer in four decades to die from a shooting in the line of duty, the residents of Lucindale are steadfast in their determination to keep his memory alive.
A plaque in front bar of the local pub recognises his love of motorbikes, his memorial notice is front and centre in the post office and on April 6 next year a permanent memorial will be unveiled on the lush lawns of Centenary Park in the small town’s main street.
Locals still become emotional talking about Sgt Doig but they will commemorate his death with a memorial T20 cricket match in his honour on November 17 – the one-year anniversary of the shooting that shocked the nation.
The game will pit Lucindale Cricket Club against Limestone Coast police officers but the day will be more about remembering Sgt Doig than any player heroics out on the Lucindale oval.
Cricket club stalwart and treasurer Daniel McCarthy sums up the feeling of the community when he says Sgt Doig was the sort of bloke who would go out of his way to help others.
“The thing about being a country cop is it’s probably pretty hard in the sense of having that community mateship and then doing the job,” Mr McCarthy says.
“I think Jase probably had that balance pretty right. We always knew when he was working. We always knew that if we were in the wrong, we were going to get a slap on the wrist. That’s all you can ask for.”
Sgt Doig would regularly donate his time to cook the barbecue after cricket training on Thursday nights. And if he’d had success on recent hunting or fishing expeditions, the players might find themselves enjoying venison or seafood off the grill.
A keen photographer, Sgt Doig also snapped team photos for the cricket, football and netball clubs and was first to put his hand up to volunteer as a lifesaver when, after years of fundraising, a new 25-metre community swimming pool opened at the Lucindale Area School in 2019.
Louise Stock was one of the driving forces behind the new pool. A hardy group of early-morning swimmers are punching out lap after lap when the Sunday Mail meets her to speak about the impact of Sgt Doig’s 15-years in the town.
“Jason was one of the first individuals to stick his hand up and make a donation for the new pool,” Ms Stock says. “And then a few of us trained up as volunteer lifeguards so we could open up the pool … and he was there on the ground floor for that as well.”
“Jason was passionate about keeping his community safe – I think that was one of his big motivators … hence the life guarding.
“He was also very conscious about road safety, and teaching kids to look after themselves.”
Sgt Doig joined other volunteer lifeguards on a training course at the pool on the weekend before his death. The annual course is on again this weekend, when participants will take some time to reflect on their loss and acknowledge Sgt Doig’s contribution to the community.
It’s a community Geoff Robinson has been a part of for 43 years. He’s effusive in his praise for both Sgt Doig and the way the town has bounced back from the tragedy.
Mr Robinson, like the rest of the town, was in shock when news started to filter through on Friday, November 17 about the shooting, which resulted in Senior local Jaydn Stimson, 26, facing murder charges.
Sgt Doig’s death was confirmed by mid-afternoon and a pre-planned social cricket game in Lucindale that night morphed into a cathartic gathering for locals to share stories and grieve together.
The loss of Sgt Doig also sparked fears he would not be replaced, and the town went into overdrive and successfully lobbied both police and the state government to ensure he would be.
The townsfolk all speak glowingly of that replacement, Brevet Sergeant Manveer “Manyy” Singh, who moved into the police station with his wife and two young children a few weeks ago.
Sgt Singh is a former friend and colleague of Sgt Doig, and was the brainchild behind a high-profile ceremony at the Lucindale police station just days after the shooting.
“The community was shocked how something like that could happen, how it happened, but we all got together,” Mr Robinson says as we chat out the front of the town’s deli, across the road from the police station.
“We all got around each other. We had 500-600 people at that memorial service, the whole street was blocked off. I think Jason would have been chuffed at the response.”
Naracoorte-Lucindale Council mayor Patrick Ross is on holiday in the US but his voice quivers with emotion down the line from Atlanta, Georgia as he recounts the day (on his wedding anniversary) of Sgt Doig’s death.
“Jason didn’t have a family, so the police force and the community were his family,” Mr Ross says. “He had the respect of the community as being just a good community copper.
“It was incredibly difficult for me, because not only was Jason a friend, but I’m also the mayor of the community, and I’ve got to represent the community. It was an absolute roller coaster.”
Mr Ross is proud of the way the community bonded together to deal with the grief of their loss. It’s a resilient district accustomed to dealing with adversity after several bushfires in the past few years.
Though Sgt Doig was based in Lucindale, he was well known across the South-
East after working for years in Robe and spending time on the beat in towns and districts ranging from Bordertown to Naracoorte, Kingston SE and Tintinara.
He was one of more than 100 officers in SA Police’s Limestone Coast local service area. Limestone Coast officer in charge Superintendent Cheryl Brown says a series of services and milestones over the past 12 months have helped officers cope with the grieving process.
The service at Lucindale a few days after the shooting was the first of them. A police funeral in Adelaide was next. Sgt Doig was awarded posthumous police bravery and leadership and efficiency medals in early September when his plaque was unveiled at a SAPOL wall of remembrance. Later that month more than 100 police officers on motorcycles travelled through the South-East en route to Canberra as part of a Wall to Wall Ride for Remembrance. In Canberra, Sgt Doig was added to a national police memorial.
“Jason’s influence was wide and it was broad,” Superintendent Brown says. “We’ve had a whole year of constantly acknowledging and reflecting, and that’s a credit to the type of person Jason was.”
Originally published as Police officer Jason Doig remembered in Lucindale 12 months after he was killed on duty in Senior, north of Bordertown
‘Major milestone’ in $368bn nuke sub project in Adelaide
Australia’s $368bn nuclear-powered submarine project will be kickstarted with a key deals to be inked in Adelaide.
Jumbo-sized problem avoided: Burma’s clear path to Monarto
A peak hour nightmare was on the cards as Monarto Safari Park’s new Asian elephant touched down, but a smoother than thought ride welcomed the newest herd member of SA.