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FOLLOWING PLENTY OF CHILDREN FOLLOW THEIR PARENTS INTO POLICING, BUT IT’S RARE THAT THEY END UP WORKING TOGETHER AT THE SAME STATION. While Sergeant Steve Raynor is adamant his son Sergeant Dan Raynor is a better police officer than he ever was, Dan maintains it is Steve’s example that inspires him.
“That maturity to pull himself out of the process because he realised he wasn’t ready, with no guarantee he’d get back in again, it really amazed me,” Steve said.
After leaving school early to pursue a panel beating apprenticeship that didn’t work out, Dan was in his early 20s and sick of working in jobs that didn’t fulfil him.
Steve names the highlight of his own career as the moment he was able to present Dan with his police badge at his graduation.
Steve had suggested Dan might want a career in the army, but then Dan said he might follow his father into policing. “Dad asked one thing of me,” Dan said. “He said, ‘Do me a favour, go out and get some life experience. Go out, see the world, grow as a person and then join’.” But at the age of 22, Dan applied anyway, making it through to the interview process before recognising he wasn’t ready and withdrawing his application. “I was honest with them, I told them I didn’t feel I was mature enough to make the step,” he said. “I had seen from Dad that it was never just a job. “It was something you throw your everything at or you don’t do it at all. “I think I realised at that age I didn’t want to be that responsible person all the time.” Like with much of Dan’s career, Steve was not only proud of his son, but deeply admired his decision.
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POLICE LIFE | SPRING 2020
Dan successfully reapplied years later and graduated in 2011.
Like his father before him, Dan worked at a mix of city and country police stations, including in and around Seymour, where their family lived for most of Dan’s life. It’s now also where the father and son have the rare honour of sharing the same rank at the same station, both working as sergeants – Dan in general duties and Steve in family violence. Throughout his time as a police officer, Dan has sought to follow the example of his father. “Because Dad worked locally, when I started going to the local pubs at 18, I’d run into a lot of people who knew of Dad,” Dan said. “They would say, ‘I ran into him one day. He’s a very fair man, a very fair copper and one of the best I’ve dealt with’. “I lost count of how many times I heard that while growing up and it inspired me to want to be that kind of copper.” But Steve has been sure to include his mistakes in the life lessons he has passed down to Dan.
“I lead by example, even if it is a bad one,” Steve laughed. Steve took a break from policing for two years in the 1990s after recognising he had been putting his career ahead of his family. “I was a bugger for putting the job before everything else, so I thought I’d put the family first for once,” he said. After years of working as a detective, Dan had high aspirations to join one of Victoria Police’s top investigative teams, such as the Drug Squad or Echo Taskforce. But then, with his own wife and two young children, he recognised some of the warning signs from Steve’s career. “The harsh reality dawned on me that I was putting work before my home life,” Dan said. “I didn’t want to become another statistic of focusing too much on my job, so I made the decision to come back closer to home.” Now stationed as a sergeant in general duties at Seymour Police Station and raising his young family in the area, Dan continues to impress his father. “He’s far more confident and competent than I am,” Steve said. “He’s a better copper than I ever was, and I’m really glad to be able to say that.”
