David Charles SANDERSON
David Charles SANDERSON
AKA CHARLIE
Late of ?
NSW Redfern Police Academy Class # 126
New South Wales Police Force
Regd. # 14494
Rank: Probationary Constable – appointed 5 April 1971
Constable 1st Class – appointed 5 April 1976
Sergeant – appointed 2 May 1986
Inspector – appointed ? ? ?
Chief Inspector – appointed ? ? ?
Superintendent – appointed ? ? ?
Final Rank = Superintendent
Stations: ?, Liverpool ( ‘A’ List – early 1970’s ), Campbelltown ( 35 Division Detective ), Bankstown ( 19 Division – Detective ), Instructor – Detectives Training Course 2/77 & 3/77, Deniliquin ( Det Sgt – late 1980’s ), Lismore ( Commander ), Tweed Heads, District Officer – Albury, Thredbo Landslide Commander ( 1997 ), Queanbeyan ( Commander ) – Retirement
Service: From ? ? pre April 1971? to 19 July 2002 = 31+ years Service
Awards: National Medal – granted 8 June 1988 ( Det Sgt )
1st Clasp to National Medal – granted 8 March 1997 ( C/ Insp )
Commissioners Commendation for the Emergency Response Management of Thredbo Landslide in July 1997. Award received in 2000
Born: Tuesday 29 April 1947
Died on: Sunday 28 April 2019 ( ONE day before his 72 birthday )
Age: 71
Cause: Melanoma & Brain Cancer
Event location: Home
Event date: Sunday 28 April 2019 during the morning – surrounded by family
Funeral date: Thursday 2 May 2019 @ 1.30pm
Funeral location: Saint Raphael’s Catholic Church, 47 Lowe St, Queanbeyan, NSW
there will be NO formal Police involvement at the funeral although family and friends are invited to attend.
Wake location: ?TBA
Funeral Parlour: William Cole Funerals, Canberra 6253 3655
Buried at: Queanbeyan Lawn Cemetery, Lanyon Dr, Jerrabomberra, NSW
Memorial located at: ?
CHARLIE is NOT mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance *NEED MORE INFO
Funeral location: [codepeople-post-map]
FURTHER INFORMATION IS NEEDED ABOUT THIS PERSON, THEIR LIFE, THEIR CAREER AND THEIR DEATH.
PLEASE SEND PHOTOS AND INFORMATION TO Cal
May they forever Rest In Peace
SANDERSON David Charles ( CHARLIE )
29 April 1947- 28 April 2019
Beloved husband of Sue.
Father of Matt, Joe, Sarah, Paul, Annie, Pete and Christina.
Passed away peacefully the morning of Sunday, 28 April surrounded by his family.
Charlie will be remembered as a loving father, a dedicated Police Officer and a great mate to all who knew him.
The funeral service for Charlie will be held at St Raphael’s Catholic Church, Lowe Street, Queanbeyan on Thursday 2 May 2019, commencing at 1:30 pm.
Burial will follow at Queanbeyan Lawn Cemetery.
Published in The Canberra Times on Apr. 30, 2019
I valued the friendship of Charlie and Sue during our time on Mornington Island and since, and still remember how easily he made friends during our time together on the Great Vic Bike Ride.
Rest in peace Charlie. You left a wonderful legacy in your family and your industry and we are the better for knowing you.
From Robert Cooper and Sharon Donald.
You were a bloody good bloke Charlie.
May you forever Rest In Peace.
https://dev.australianpolice.com.au/david-charles-sanderson/
Survivor found in resort rubble
David Aspland shared a link.
Interesting story about a defining moment in Emergency Rescue in Australia, the Thredbo Landslide. I was transferred to Monaro LAC a couple of months after it happened as the A/Crime Manager (I still wonder about that title, but Crime Coordinator sounds even worse 
). The Commander, Supt Charlie Sanderson was still working on the Coroners Brief. It was one of the most amazing documents I have ever read in policing. Charlie was a great detective.
Training for a nightmare: How first responders prepare for the worst
Updated
As rescuers scanned for life in sub-zero temperatures after the Thredbo landslide, the dangerously unstable site and freezing conditions stalled search efforts and caused equipment to seize.
One of Australia’s most popular holiday spots became the site of one of our greatest tragedies when 18 people died in the landslide in 1997.
It marked a turning point in the way authorities responded to natural disasters in Australia.
“We’ve gone really from a system that was ad hoc and everyone was doing the best they can to a system that’s well-maintained and regulated,” Fire & Rescue New South Wales Chief Superintendent Paul Bailey said.
In 1997, Fire & Rescue NSW had about 30 urban search and rescue trained staff — now the figure is almost 10 times that.
Training and technology have both vastly improved in the past 20 years.
Australia now has two internationally accredited urban search and rescue teams, meaning they can deploy anywhere in the world at a moment’s notice.
Six hours to get in the air
The NSW team is one of two in Australia to hold classifications with United Nations International Search and Rescue Advisory Group.
“When we’re told there’s an incident we need to be up and out of the here in six hours,” Chief Superintendent Bailey said.
“So that means getting a team of 72 people, all our equipment, which is over 36 tonnes of equipment, all together onto a cargo plane and anywhere in the world within six hours.”
Responding quickly is crucial — search and rescue crews say after around 100 hours life expectancy falls significantly.
They’ve been tested too. Firefighters say in 2011, Australian crews got to the Christchurch earthquake before some teams from Auckland.
The NSW team was deployed to the Japan earthquake and tsunami and also Tropical Cyclone Pam in Vanuatu in 2015.
To remain permanently prepared, the search and rescue teams train in gruelling and realistic scenarios.
“What we do is simulate a pancake collapse — so that’s when building floors topple on top of one another,” Fire & Rescue’s Manager of Specialised Operations Darryl Dunbar said.
“Then our crews have to make entry through those floors to gain an entry underground to access that tunnel network.”
Once teams arrive on the scene, they use an array of gadgets to search for life — including vibration sensors that can detect the slightest bit of scraping or tapping on metal or concrete.
“[Vibrations] can actually travel more than 50 metres through a structure depending on how a building has collapsed,” station officer Daniel O’Dea said.
“These crews, that’s their job to identify that sound, work out what it is exactly if it’s in fact a distress call from someone.”
“We’ve got cameras that can snake down into a void, a tiny gap that was a wide as your finger and go down through that gap to manoeuvre that to locate any signs of life.”
First responders’ training facility revealed
When the ABC visited the Ingleburn training facility, search and rescue teams were running a refresher course for firefighters.
The idea is to get as many firefighters as possible around the state trained because they are likely to be the first responders.
It begins with the basics — cutting through tonnes of concrete and then using timber as a lever to create access.
One of the firefighters on the training course was Scott Featherstone, son of Paul, the paramedic who helped Stuart Diver for 12 hours until he was freed from the concrete after the Thredbo landslide.
He said his dad’s efforts in part inspired him to become a firefighter.
“I always wanted to do something where I could [help people],” he said.
We first met Charlie and Sue when we lived in Macquarie Fields in the early 1970s and became friends through our involvement in the local Catholic Parish. We always remember them as a wonderful couple who never complained about any adversity, leaving everything in God’s hands. When we left the area for me (Chris) to pursue my career, Charlie and Sue gave us a farewell gift of a magnificent painting of an organist as I (Lyn) used to play at Sunday Mass in the various Churches of the Parish. We did manage to catch up with them when Charlie was stationed in Tenterfield in 1979-80 and later when we moved to Casino in the early 1980s and Charlie was stationed in Lismore. He was happy there, as he was near to his Mum. We lost contact when they moved South but we vividly remember the Thredbo tragedy and followed it via the media knowing that it would be handled with Charlie’s meticulous compassion and professionalism. Unfortunately, we did not see them and their children in person again; however, we often thought of them, remembering them in conversations with other people of that early 70s era. Only recently we accessed Charlie’s name on the Web, only to find out this sad news. We have no doubt that Charlie is in God’s care and is pretty high up in the Heavenly pecking order. We are both so sorry and remorseful that it has taken us so long to find out this sad news. God bless Sue and their family members.
I used to teach at Junee High School with Charlie, before he left to join the police force. Lost touch, and now hear of his passing. I’m so sad. Sympathies to Sue and all the family. A man to be proud of.
I also knew Charlie when I was teaching at Junee High School.
Very late condolences to Sue and all of Charlie’s family. A wonderful bloke and friend to all.
I knew David Charles Sanderson from ingleburn primary days he was a good teacher and his wife was a good person we all grieve at this point in time Lloyd Wilson