Michael Francis Symes joined the Queensland Police as Constable 4570 on October 24, 1980. To date he has served at Broadbeach, Gold Coast, City Station, Brisbane CIB, Woolloongabba, Wynnum Traffic, Tambo, Eromanga, Whitsunday, Cunnamulla, Dalby, Capalaba, Hervey Bay and Thursday Island. Senior Sergeant Symes is currently stationed in Gympie.
The Star of Courage Citation reads:
During the night of 18-19 May 1990, Senior Constable Symes controlled an armed man at Tambo while securing the release of two hostages, maintaining psychological pressure to prevent widespread shooting, and eventually overpowering the offender.
A little before midnight a man armed with a rifle shot a motorist, threatened others, and walked the streets of Tambo firing indiscriminately. Senior Constable Symes, who was unarmed for most of the time, engaged the man in conversation and although repeatedly threatened by him remained in his company until just before daybreak.
During this time Senior Constable Symes influenced the offender to desist from shooting a number of other people and to release two hostages he had taken. Despite the danger of his position, Constable Symes maintained a commanding perspective and arranged for the streets to be cleared, the wounded motorist to be evacuated, police support called and civilian assistants deployed. Eventually, disregarding the increased risk to his personal safety, Senior Constable Symes closed in on the gunman and overpowered him.
By his actions Senior Constable Symes displayed conspicuous courage.
Senior Constable Symes was awarded the Star of Courage at a ceremony held on September 9, 1992.
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The Star of Courage is awarded for acts of conspicuous courage in circumstances of great peril. It is the second highest Australian Bravery Decoration. Only four Queensland Police officers have been in receipt of the Star of Courage since the award was established in February 1975.
Australian Bravery Decorations date from the establishment of the Australian honours system in. The Group Bravery Citation was added in 1990.
The decorations recognise acts of bravery by members of the community. There are four levels of decoration:
- Cross of Valour (CV)
- Star of Courage (SC)
- Bravery Medal (BM)
- Commendation for Brave Conduct
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This information has been supplied by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available at the time of writing.
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: Star of Courage: Senior Constable Michael Symes” 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. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode