When John ‘Jack’ Keough moved to Byron Bay police station in 1982 there was still a station sheep that kept the grass down and goats still roamed Cape Byron. Sargent Keough began his career in policing in 1972 when he walked into the Redfern Academy to join the police force.
A lot has changed in the 50 years that Sargent Jack Keough has been policing.
‘I’d think that about 95 per cent of the District had yet to start life on this planet when Jack was policing the tough streets of Darlinghurst in 1972,’ said Officer in Charge of the Byron Bay Police Station, Detective Chief Inspector Matt Kehoe. ‘In fact, even the parents of some of our younger officers may not have even entered this world yet.’
‘Fifty years of Policing is an outstanding achievement and only achieved by a handful of cops but what makes Jack’s achievement all the more remarkable is that he has done his entire service as a fully operational frontline General Duties officer. A feat that I don’t believe has been matched and never likely to be matched. At present Jack sits at No.3 on the list of 17,520 serving police with regards to years of service, but again I believe he is the longest still working fully operational cop.
‘On behalf of myself, Mr Roptell and the SMT, congratulations Jack on 50 years of policing. Your family and colleagues are very proud of you and the community is so grateful to have you looking after them.’
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