Sergeant Greg Clarke of Alderley was one of the 180 Queensland Policemen and Policewomen who got ‘cropped’ in a joint fundraising event with the Royal Children’s Hospital, Banksia Ward (Oncology). The ‘Crop-A-Cop’ campaign launched on 2 April 1997 with a set goal to raise $250,000 in the year’s event. Copper Bluey was adopted as a mascot for the campaign.
Copper Bluey badge, c1997
‘Fund-raising took the form of many raffles, sausage sizzles, dinners and some more unlikely initiatives such as the PSRT running a ‘Dunk a Cop’ tank at several local shows.’ (QPUJ Oct, 1997) Through individual and station-wide efforts Queensland Police Service members were able to reach and surpass the quarter of a million fund-raising goal. Special recognition went to the Innisfail officers, who raised over $20,000 and Frank Cage from the City Watchhouse, who raised over $10,000 alone! On 16 August, the main state shave took place in Queen Street Mall, which culminated with an ‘after-shave’ Baldies Bash.
The same year, the national head shave was also held at Hobart, where a group of QPS members along with approximately 800 police from around Australia raised $2.5 million. In Queensland the funds went towards vital cancer research in the Royal Children’s Hospital Oncology unit.
In 1998, the ‘Crop-A-Cop’ campaign was renamed to Bluey Day. The name was changed to include other emergency services throughout Queensland, Australia and overseas. Bluey Day shaves were also then held in San Francisco and Vancouver. Prior to the big ‘shave off’ at Conrad Jupiter’s Casino, each participant had to raise $1,000 to qualify. Inspector Tonya Carew raised over $10,000 for the privilege of having her head shaved.
Almost 200 police officers from Australia and overseas got cropped on 22 August, 1998. Four ‘Canadian Mounties’ (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) joined police from Queensland, Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania. ‘Other shaves were held in regional centres throughout Queensland with 125 QPS officers involved, who raised the total of $150,000 that year.
Bluey Day continues to be held nationally and internationally every August and involves emergency service personnel as well as police.
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This information has been provided by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available. The article was written by Museum Volunteer and Crime and Policing Historian Dr Anastasia Dukova.
The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane. Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au
“FROM the VAULT – Crop-A-Cop” by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence.
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