CAREER IN FOCUS - Kissing a loved career goodbye

Editorial: Danielle Ford

Photography: Brendan McCarthy

There are a lot of lessons that can be learnt during a 39-year policing career, but for Sergeant Peter, Lukaitis there’s one lesson that stands out above the rest.

“Always kiss your partner and family goodbye when you leave the house,” Sgt Lukaitis said.

It’s a lesson the Castlemaine sergeant, who retired in December, had to learn the hard way.

On 31 October 1990, Sgt Lukaitis and his wife had a small argument over something he now can’t even remember. He then headed off to work without giving her a kiss goodbye.

That night, the then Bendigo-based leading senior constable had just finished responding to a young drink driver who was threatening suicide when he got a call over the police radio that would cement his important life lesson.

Two police officers had been shot at Kangaroo Flat after a local resident had reacted badly to an ambulance being called to his home, firing several shots into the night.

Sgt Lukaitis recalled rushing to the scene with several thoughts running through his head, the main one being concern for the safety of any officers at the scene.

Four police officers were shot that night; Senior Detective Craig Miller, Senior Constable Peter Eames, Inspector Ulf Kaminski and Sgt Lukaitis.

At the time, it was the worst police shooting in Victoria’s history.

As Sgt Peter Lukaitis prepared to retire, he looked back at his 39-year policing career and recalled the many lessons he learned along the way.

“I was standing right next to Ulf when he was shot,” Sgt Lukaitis said.

“He hit the ground right beside me. That shot could have hit me or him … it hit him.

“I could hear the gunshots still coming, so I dropped to the ground beside Ulf.

“While I was trying to push Ulf toward a car for cover, another shot came through and got me in the foot, just missing my head by millimetres.”

Despite his bullet wound, Sgt Lukaitis knew he had to get Insp Kaminski to safety.

Backing his protective vest to withstand a shot, Sgt Lukaitis moved back into the line of fire and put himself between Insp Kaminski and the gunman to make it easier for Insp Kaminski to get to cover.

“Ulf had been shot in the stomach and was saying he couldn’t move,” he said.

“I said, ‘You have to and when I say one, two, three, you need to go and I’ll stand in front of you’,” Sgt Lukaitis said.

“We did it and we went behind a tree, which looks pretty small when you’re getting shot at.

“I was pretty scared myself at that stage because I could still hear the firing and we were still exposed. I knew we had to get out – we couldn’t stay where we were.”

Insp Kaminski’s deteriorating condition and the size of the small tree acting as his cover prompted Sgt Lukaitis to move himself and his fellow officer to a concrete bus shelter, where paramedics were waiting.

The four injured police officers were taken to Bendigo Hospital for treatment. All survived.

The siege continued throughout the night, coming to an end early the next day when the gunman’s body was found in the house with self-inflicted gunshot wounds.

“I rang my wife after I’d been shot to tell her what had happened, and I remember saying to her, ‘I knew I should have kissed you goodbye’,” Sgt Lukaitis said.

“That was a big learning for me and since that day, I give her a kiss whenever I leave the house, even if it’s just to pop down the street.”

This lesson wasn’t the only thing to come out of the horrible events of that night.

For his efforts in getting Insp Kaminski to safety, Sgt Lukaitis was awarded Victoria Police’s highest bravery honour, the Valour Award, along with a National Bravery Award.

“They may have come out of bad things, but getting the awards was a huge honour,” he said.

The events of that night changed how Sgt Lukaitis looked at a lot of things, including his job as a police officer, but he said it never once crossed his mind to leave the force.

“After the shooting, everyone really banded around the four of us and that idea of the policing family really came through,” he said.

“While the shooting never made me think about leaving, it did change the course of my career a bit.

“I set two goals when I joined. I wanted to become a detective and I wanted to become a sergeant.

“I did both those things and I could have moved the goal posts and aimed for more, but after going through something like the shooting, you reassess your life and decide to focus on all the good things you’ve got, rather than where you want to go.”

Sgt Lukaitis is a believer that every police officer has their niche – a field or type of policing that suits them.

For him, it turned out to be country policing. After working in various suburbs in Melbourne-based detective roles, Sgt Lukaitis said once he got his sergeant position in Castlemaine, he wanted to stay.

“You really get that sense that you’re doing something meaningful for the community as a police officer and that feeling is especially strong in country communities,” he said.

“You get to know your local community really well in a place like this.

“When you go to the local supermarket, everyone says hello because they know who you are. I really enjoy that, and I think it’s a big part of why I stayed out here for the last 19 years of my career.”

When he talks about his career, the passion and joy Sgt Lukaitis has for the job is obvious.

It’s a passion that has rubbed off onto his daughter.

In October last year, Sgt Lukaitis was joined in Victoria Police by his daughter, Constable Harriette Lukaitis, who now works at Southbank Police Station.

During his last week as an officer, Sgt Peter Lukaitis was able to spend a shift working with his daughter Const Harriette Lukaitis, who joined Victoria Police just two months before her father retired.

Harriette said while her father was initially shocked at her decision to join, he had been nothing but supportive the whole way through.

“I’d just finished an education degree at university, and he thought I’d go into teaching,” she said.

“But I had always thought I’d go down the policing path. I’d grown up seeing Dad as a police officer and saw the benefits as well as the bits that are tricky.

“I also saw the way he dealt with everything in his career. He’s got a lot out of the job by playing a positive role in the community and I want to have that same impact.”

During Sgt Lukaitis’ last week at work in December, the father-daughter duo were able to share a special moment when they worked a shift together in Castlemaine.

“Being able to spend a day watching how he works and seeing him in action first-hand, it was really special,” Harriette said.

“I’m starting the job as he’s leaving it and being able to spend that shift together was a kind of changing-of-the-guard for us.”

Sgt Lukaitis said of the many moments and achievements his career produced, seeing his daughter follow in his footsteps stands out above the rest.

“I was flattered when she chose the same career as me,” he said.

“I am extremely proud of her and it was such an honour to be able to give her badge to her at graduation. Then to be able to share a shift together just before I retired is something I’ll look back on in years to come and cherish.”

For 24/7 crisis support or suicide prevention services, please call 13 11 14. If life is in danger, call Triple Zero (000). Current and former Victoria Police employees and their families can also access wellbeing services via bluespacewellbeing.com.au