RPD Superintendent Andrew Spliet presents Sergeant Steven Magnone with the District Commander’s Commendation. Photo: Jarryd Rowley.
In a year that has seen two of the biggest rescue missions in recent times, officers and staff of the Riverina Police District (RPD) have had their service recognised at the department’s annual Medal and Awards Ceremony.
The ceremony saw officers from all corners of the Riverina join a ceremony at Wagga’s PCYC, where they were greeted by RPD Superintendent Andrew Spliet and NSW Deputy Commissioner Paul Pisanos APM.
Mr Pisanos expressed his gratitude to the officers and staff of the RPD, and regional officers across the state, while identifying that just under half of the state’s police covered more than 90 per cent of NSW’s geographical area.
“It’s a great honour and a great privilege to be here to celebrate with the police, the community and our emergency services partners,” he said.
“We awarded some incredible awards for police that have served significant amounts of service, both our sworn officers, our unsworn officers, as well as recognising brave acts of policing in emergencies; arresting; charging violent, serious offenders; as well as just taking care of the community.
“These awards are critically important, because not all of the work, but a lot of the work we do can have, sometimes have a dark ending to it.
“Sometimes we’re not delivering the best of the news to people. But I think at times, we do celebrate when there are moments that we can be together and just celebrate positive service and the community service that we perform.”
NSW Deputy Commissioner Paul Pisanos APM attended the awards ceremony. Photo: Jarryd Rowley.
Sergeant Steven Magnone was one of the officers to receive a District Commander’s Commendation as part of the award ceremony for his work locating the wreckage of a plane crash in the state’s east in June.
“‘I’m honoured to receive this award. I was leading a team of exceptional police and other agencies. The SES also played a significant role in the recovery and location of the missing pilot. It’s an honour to get an award such as this, where I’m merely just doing my job during the day,” he said.
“It was a very difficult situation we were faced with, but we have some really good resources locally.
“We have Parks and Wildlife who also assisted with this recovery. Their knowledge of those conditions and that terrain is second to none. They work in those conditions, in those parks and national parks, day in, day out.
“They really assist us with our information and intel in terms of how we should get to these locations, as well as having resources we don’t ultimately have as police.
“Working together as a joint response is very important in these regional areas.”
