It’s been 25 years since the Port Arthur massacre shook Australia to its core. For former Victoria Police officers Craig Harwood and Michael Hayes, the events of modern Australia’s worst mass shooting will forever remain etched in their memories.
As Special Operations Group (SOG) leaders in 1996, they answered an unprecedented call for assistance from their Tasmanian counterpart Jim Morrison and led a Victorian SOG team to the southern state to help bring the siege to an end and arrest the offender.
In the Winter 2021 edition of Police Life, the three men share their memories of that dreadful day and how their collective desire to focus on the good that followed the tragedy has brought them together again, this time for an epic trek in the name of a charity close to their hearts.
This editions also shares the story of Olympian, Rachel Jarry, and how she bounced from a lifetime on the basketball court into a career as a Victoria Police officer.