Ronald Norman STEER
Ronald Norman STEER APM
AKA Ron
Late of Dubbo
NSW Police Cadet # 1957
New South Wales Police Force
[alert_yellow]Regd. # 12067[/alert_yellow]
Rank: NSW Police Cadet – commenced Monday 17 August 1964
Probationary Constable – appointed 27 June 1966
Constable – appointed 27 June 1967
Sergeant – appointed 6 May 1982
Senior Sergeant – Patrol Commander ( Inspector ) – Muswellbrook
Chief Inspector
Final Rank = Chief Inspector
Stations: Sydney area, South District, Harden – Manager PCYC, Broken Hill ( 2 years ), Ivanhoe ( early 1970’s ) – 4 years, Wilcannia – 5 years ( SenCon ), Moree – LockUp Keeper ( Sgt ), Lake Cargelligo – OIC – 5 years ( Sgt 2/C ), Wilcannia – O.I.C. – 5 years, Muswellbrook – Hunter Region ( Inspector ), Walgett – O.I.C. – ( C/Insp ), Dubbo 1997 – 2002 ( C/Insp ) – Retirement
Service: From 17 August 1964 to 30 July 2002 = 38 years Service
Awards: National Medal – granted 15 November 1982
Australian Police Medal ( A.P.M. ) – granted 12 June 1989
1st Clasp to National Medal – granted 28 May 1992
2nd Clasp to National Medal – granted 19 December 2001
Born: 27 June 1947
Died on: Friday 28 September 2018
Age: 71
Cause: ?
Event location: ?
Event date: ?
Funeral date: Friday 19 October 2018 @ noon
Funeral location: St Andrews Chapel, 72 Wingewarra Street, DUBBO
Wake location: Western Star Hotel, Erskine St, Dubbo
Funeral Parlour: W. Larcombe & Son, Dubbo Funeral Home 6882 3199
Buried at: Cremated
Memorial located at: ?
[alert_yellow]RON is NOT mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance[/alert_yellow] *NEED MORE INFO
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Funeral location:
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FURTHER INFORMATION IS NEEDED ABOUT THIS PERSON, THEIR LIFE, THEIR CAREER AND THEIR DEATH.
PLEASE SEND PHOTOS AND INFORMATION TO Cal
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May they forever Rest In Peace
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Published in Narromine News on Oct. 12, 2018
Satisfying retirement with helping troubled youth
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SIMON CHAMBERLAIN
AFTER Ron Steer retired from more than 40 years involvement with the police force he did not expect continued involvement with law enforcement and the justice system.
But a decade on after his retirement he is finding satisfaction and fulfilment as a mentor and being part of the youth conferencing process.
Mr Steer grew up in Sydney and at the age of 16 decided to follow the example of a cousin and choose the police force as a career. He joined the force as a cadet and for three years worked alongside trained officers as “a bit of a roustabout”.
“It was on the job training, working in traffic and around the office and picking up the mundane jobs,” he said.
Aged 19 and then a fully-fledged policeman he “went bush” to Harden as the manager of the Police Citizens Youth Club.
“It was a vibrant railway town back then,” he said.
“We had a lot good young kids involved with football and boxing.”
His next posting in the force was a transfer to Broken Hill for a two-year stint and a step up the promotion ladder.
He admitted it was a case of extremes moving from Harden to a strong industrial town in the far west of the state.
His next posting was to Ivanhoe for a four-year stint.
“It was a good town then,” he said.
He then took a posting at Wilcannia as a senior constable, the first of two five-year stints in the town.
After his first posting at Wilcannia, he and his family moved to Moree where he was promoted to the rank of sergeant and was the “lock-up keeper”.
Another promotion to second class sergeant and a move to Lake Cargelligo followed where he was officer-in-charge for a five-year spell.
A phone call from the then police commissioner put Mr Steer on the path of his greatest policing challenge.
“There was a death in custody in Wilcannia and the commissioner asked me to go back as the officer-in-charge,” Mr Steer said.
“It was the greatest challenge of my career,” he said.
Mr Steer said all of the staff at the Wilcannia station were replaced and his team was made up of young officers in their early 20s without much experience.
“We started from scratch,” he said.
“The advantage for me was I’d been there before but we had to get back to community-based policing.
“Talking to people face-to-face, foot patrols getting involved with the youth and the football club.
“It was daunting for the young police who were aged between 19 and 21 years who hadn’t been around for long.
“It was a different world in Wilcannia.”
After a five-year posting at Wilcannia, Mr Steer was commissioned as an inspector and took a posting in the Upper Hunter at Muswellbrook.
He admitted he found life across the eastern side of the Great Divide less to his liking and before long he and the family moved west when he was promoted to chief inspector and the officer in charge at Walgett. His daughter still lives in Walgett working in child care.
After Walgett he was posted to Dubbo where he worked until retiring after 38 years as a commissioned officer in the NSW police Force.
His efforts during his second posting in Wilcannia earned him an Australian Police Service Medal.
He said in the decade since retirement he was almost “back full time” working in the youth justice system, mentoring and working one-on-one with young people in strife with the law.
“I do a lot of one-on-one mentoring with kids in the Staysafe system,” he said.
“It’s hard for kids today to come to terms with the real world.
“I enjoy working with them.”
Mr Steer said retirement for him was not about just sitting around all day.
“That’s a disaster and you can’t be forever packing a suitcase and moving around. ”
He said it was about finding a balance, and working with young people in trouble was proving fulfilling and rewarding.
editor.liberal@ruralpress.com
Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales (Sydney, NSW : 1901 – 2001), Friday 19 November 1993 (No.127), page 6834
NEW SOUTH WALES POLICE SERVICE
Commissioned Officer Appointments
HIS Excellency the Governor, with the advice of the Executive Council, has approved of the undermentioned Commissioned Officer appointments, effective from the date indicated:
Commander, Region Investigative Unit, Police Internal Affairs Branch, Region North — Chief Inspector: Inspector PAUL ROBERT WHITMORE, date of entry on duty.
Patrol Commander, Walgett — Chief Inspector: Inspector RONALD NORMAN STEER, date of entry on duty.
District Staff Officer, Personnel, Central Coast — Inspector: Senior Sergeant PATRICK JAMES KEYS, date of entry on duty.
TERRY GRIFFITHS,
Minister for Police and Emergency Services.
Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales (Sydney, NSW : 1901 – 2001), Friday 1 May 1992 (No.55), page 3028
NEW SOUTH WALES POLICE SERVICE
Commissioned Officer Appointments
HIS Excellency the Governor, with the advice of the Executive Council, has approved of the undermentioned Commissioned Officer appointments, effective from the dates indicated:
Patrol Commander, Petersham — Inspector – Senior Sergeant BRUCE ERIC BELL, date of entry on duty.
Patrol Commander, Muswellbrook — Inspector – Senior Sergeant RONALD NORMAN STEER, date of entry on duty.
TED PICKERING
Minister for Police and Emergency Services.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/231896179
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