By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
IN ALMOST 40 years of policing, Sergeant Mick Sheers reckons he’s seen pretty much all of it.
The veteran was working on the second floor of D24 in Russell Street when the car bomb exploded in March 1986.
And he was the Section Sergeant on duty at the Endeavour Hills station in September this year, when terrorist suspect Numan Haider was shot dead outside the facility after stabbing two police officers.
Last Tuesday Sgt Sheers recalled that fateful night from a few months ago, as current and former police members from Endeavour Hills gathered to celebrate the station’s tenth anniversary at the local golf club.
“We knew something had happened and by the time we got outside we could see that the offender had been shot,” he said.
“The thing about it is that it’s closer to home. You just worry about where it’s going to go from here.
“It’s not something that you expect to happen in Australia, let alone in Endeavour Hills. Everyone’s just got to be a lot more cautious.”
But Sgt Sheers said the shooting hadn’t affected the positive outlook of officers at Endeavour Hills, noting morale had stayed high at the station.
“We’ve always had great morale at Endeavour Hills and that’s still the same,” he said.
“We had young trainees working there on that night and their morale’s fantastic. They’ve gone through it.
“Morale at Endeavour Hills is one thing that’s never been poor.”
Policing is something of a family matter for the Sheers. Mick’s old man was a copper, his brother was a copper, he has a sister who’s a copper, and he couldn’t forget his daughter – who’s also a copper.
“My father and brother being in the job at the time drew me to it, I was looking for work and it pushed me that way,” Sgt Sheers said.
“I actually didn’t know how I was going to go, to tell you the truth. I wasn’t sure whether I could do it but I’ve had 39 and a half years in it now and I’ve loved it.
“It surprises me when I look back on it now.”
In addition to stints at Narre and Endeavour Hills, those 39-years included a period at the city police office which saw Mick in the Russell Street headquarters when the car bomb went off in the mid-80s.
“I was sitting at the front of the building when the bomb exploded,” Sgt Sheers said.
“I actually thought someone had thrown a bomb through the window adjacent to me, because the noise was so loud.
“It wasn’t until I turned around that I noticed that every other window had been blown in at the same time.
“There was a policewoman who was killed but she wasn’t from our office.”
The explosion claimed the life of 21-year-old Constable Angela Taylor.
“Any time a member’s killed you think about it and you always worry, not only about yourself but about all the other members,” Sgt Sheers said.
“But you’ve still got to keep going on, don’t you?”
