History of NSW Police Force

 

The first death of a member of the new Police Force occurred when Constable William Havilland was accidentally shot at Orange whilst returning from Eugowra Rocks, where he had been guarding the gold escort which had earlier been bailed up by bushrangers.

In 1867 Special Constables John Carroll, Patrick Kennagh, Eneas McDonnell and John Phegan were secretly sworn in as part of a covert operation to capture bushrangers who had shot and killed Constable Miles O'Grady at Nerrigundah in 1866. The four Special Constables were ambushed at night at Jinden (near Braidwood) and killed.

Their deaths represent the largest loss of Police lives in a single incident of this type in Australia. Later that year, the Campbell Commission of Inquiry into the State of Crime in the Braidwood District was established. This was the first Royal Commission type inquiry into the NSW Police.