Richard Charles WHITTAKER
Richard Charles WHITTAKER
aka Dick
NSW Redfern Police Academy # 162
“possible” relation in “the job”: A.R. WHITTAKER, NSWPF # 8649
New South Wales Police Force
Regd. # 18588
Joined NSW Police Force via NSW Police Cadet system on 1 February 1977
Cadet # 3334
Rank: NSW Police Cadet – commenced 1 February 1977 ( aged 16 years, 9 months, 16 days )
Probationary Constable – appointed 17 April 1979 ( 19 years, 0 months, 1 day )
Detective – appointed ? ? ? ( YES )
Constable – appointed ? ? ?
Constable 1st class – appointed 16 April 1984
Senior Constable – appointed 16 April 1988
Sergeant 3rd Class – appointed 27 September 1991
Final Rank: Detective Sergeant – Death
Stations: ?, Gosford Drug Unit ( Brisbane Waters LAC ) – Death
Service: From 1 February 1977 to 28 September 1991 = 14 years, 7 months, 27 Service
Time in Retirement: 0
Age at Retirement: n/a
Awards: No find on It’s An Honour
Born: Saturday 16 April 1960
Died on: Saturday 28 September 1991 @ Royal North Shore Hospital, NSW
Cause: Cerebral Haemorrhage
Age: 31 years, 5 months, 12 days
Funeral date: ? October 1991
Funeral location: ?
Buried at: CREMATED:
Ashes Interred in the Palmdale Lawn Cemetery & Memorial Park, Palmdale Rd, Palmdale, NSW
Rose Garden, 26A, Site 58
Memorial Plaque: Point Frederick Pioneer Park, 1 Albany St, Pt Frederick, NSW
-33.449594 151.341945
Memorial Plaque location: [codepeople-post-map]
DICK IS mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance
Richard was born in the Point Frederick area and spent many of his childhood days in this park.
Dedicated by his family & many friends on the 16. 4. 1992.
Before his death Detective Sergeant Whittaker and other Police had been involved in a major drug investigation which had resulted in the arrest of eighteen offenders. Corruption allegations were made by a number of the offenders resulting in a Police Internal Security Unit investigation.
During the protracted internal investigation the Sergeant was under enormous pressure and as a result suffered a cerebral haemorrhage.
He passed away at the Royal North Shore Hospital on 28 September 1991.
He was posthumously cleared of all allegations by Judge Allen at the Sydney District Court on 30 September 1991.
The Sergeant was born in 1960 and joined the New South Wales Police Service, via the NSW Police Cadet system on 1 February 1977 and was Attested, as a Probationary Constable on 17 April 1979.
At the time of his death he was attached to the Gosford Drug Unit.
‘Our boys haven’t been forgotten’: Policemen honoured in Brisbane Water row
When Sarah Matthews returned home after her shift at Gosford Hospital on the evening of April 13, 2002 and spotted a row of waiting police cars she thought the neighbours were having a noisy party.
“It never struck me what was coming next,” remembers the emergency nurse who was told the worst — her fiancée Senior-Constable Chris Thornton had been killed on duty hours earlier.
“It didn’t hit me. Even when I was told. I don’t think that’s something that ever leaves you.”
This week Miss Matthews, Kylie Kerr and Tracey Holt will get together to remember their partners, Sen-Constable Thornton, Sen-Constable Peter Gordon Wilson and Sergeant Richard Whittaker, who all died on duty while with the Brisbane Water Local Area Command.
On Thursday officers from Brisbane Water LAC will take part in a paddle to raise money for NSW Police Legacy to support the families of fallen officers.
“You never want to be a part of Legacy but now we are part of this unique group and without Legacy we wouldn’t have each other,” Miss Matthews said.
But for two of the women, the close bond was forged by their shared loss and haunting similarities in how their partners lost their lives.
Sen-Constable Thornton, 35, died in a motor vehicle accident while on patrol in Woy Woy in 2002, while Mrs Kerr’s long-term partner Sen-Constable Wilson, 41, was killed when he was hit by a car while carrying out speed checks on the M1 at Somersby in 2006.
Both men were based at Brisbane Water LAC, both died in car accidents on a Saturday night, and both had the same patrol car number — 202.
“This special event means our boys haven’t been forgotten,” Miss Matthews said, adding that the support of Legacy has enabled her to move on. “You have to take that step forward. You can’t be angry, because that just eats away at you.”
“This special event means our boys haven’t been forgotten,” Miss Matthews said, adding that the support of Legacy has enabled her to move on. “You have to take that step forward. You can’t be angry, because that just eats away at you.”
“This special event means our boys haven’t been forgotten,” Miss Matthews said, adding that the support of Legacy has enabled her to move on. “You have to take that step forward. You can’t be angry, because that just eats away at you.”
Mrs Holt, whose husband Sgt Whittaker was stationed at the Gosford drug unit and was involved in drug investigations at the time of his death when he died from a brain haemorrhage in 1991, said the annual paddle is a “beautiful day”. “It is amazing the effort Daniel Sullivan and the team put in to keep the memory going of old work mates and have a good time doing it,” she said.
Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 – 1995),
Tuesday 1 October 1991, page 4
Drug bribery allegation ‘killed officer’
SYDNEY: The stress of unfounded corruption allegations killed a policeman who suffered a stroke at the weekend, according to the Police Association.
The association’s president, Tony Day, said yesterday that Gosford-based Detective Senior Constable Richard Whittaker, who was promoted to detective sergeant last Friday, had been implicated in a bribery conspiracy by a drug dealer.
Yesterday, the dealer, an industrial chemist, was sentenced to a minimum of 11 years jail after pleading guilty to manufacturing and supplying amphetamines with a street value of more than $4 million.
Handing down the sentence in Darlinghurst Supreme Court, Justice Allen said John Oldfield, 52, of Winston Hills in Sydney’s west, had stated he had tried to bribe a police officer through a contact known as “M” in November, 1990.
After the alleged bribe attempt had failed, Oldfield had gone to the Police Internal Security division and made a detailed statement, implicating the officer. The judge said he was satisfied the detective knew nothing about the alleged bribe.
Mr. Day said the Police Internal Security division investigation into Oldfield’s allegations had been “dubious”.
“Every crim in NSW knows that if they want their case adjourned they just have to implicate the police, and there will have to be an investigation,” he said.
“Eighty per cent of corruption and bribery charges are disproved.”
Detective Whittaker, 31, was married with two-year-old twin daughters.
Mr Day said the Oldfield affair had played a major role in causing Detective Whittaker stress, resulting in his death.
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/134156388
Past events in Remembrance of Dick Whittaker.
Paddle for Police Legacy
Paddling from Ocean Beach Surf Club to Bluetongue Stadium along the Brisbane Water on the NSW Central Coast (approximately 15km).
Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 – 1995),
Tuesday 1 October 1991, page 4
Drug bribery allegation ‘ killed officer ‘
SYDNEY: The stress of unfounded corruption allegations killed a policeman who suffered a stroke at the weekend, according to the Police Association.
The association’s president, Tony Day, said yesterday that Gosford-based Detective Senior Constable Richard Whittaker, who was promoted to detective sergeant last Friday, had been implicated in a bribery conspiracy by a drug dealer.
Yesterday, the dealer, an industrial chemist, was sentenced to a minimum of 11 years jail after pleading guilty to manufacturing and supplying amphetamines with a street value of more than $4 million.
Handing down the sentence in Darlinghurst Supreme Court, Justice Allen said John Oldfield, 52, of Winston Hills in Sydney’s west, had stated he had tried to bribe a police officer through a contact known as “M” in November, 1990.
After the alleged bribe attempt had failed, Oldfield had gone to the Police Internal Security division and made a detailed statement, implicating the officer. The judge said he was satisfied the detective knew nothing about the alleged bribe.
Mr. Day said the Police Internal Security division investigation into Oldfield’s allegations had been “dubious”.
“Every crim in NSW knows that if they want their case adjourned they just have to implicate the police, and there will have to be an investigation,” he said.
“Eighty per cent of corruption and bribery charges are disproved.”
Detective Whittaker, 31, was married with two-year-old twin daughters.
Mr Day said the Oldfield affair had played a major role in causing Detective Whittaker stress, resulting in his death.
