He has seen his fair share of danger on the street for almost 40 years, but Bunyip’s local cop Danny Hower has hardly let it get him down in life as he departs from the force.
He proudly moves on to a brand new role with Windana that follows on from his service in blue, this time more focused on those recovering from the edges of society.
“They’re trying to be the best person they can rather than the other person that I was seeing on the worst day of their life,” he said.
It was on the King’s Birthday this year that Garfield North’s Danny Hower spent his last day as a Sergeant for Victoria Police.
Concluding 37 years in the force, the Berwick-raised local spent the last nine at Bunyip Police Station.
He never would have thought he would be stationed there as he “never wanted to be too close to home.”
For locals, Danny is not just the man with the badge, he is the timekeeper at the Garfield footy games, he is the green thumb who pops up at Landcare events, or the all-round yarn spinner at the pub, only the yarns are as true as they are fantastic.
His ability to connect with people has metamorphosed into his new role as a support worker for community service Windana.
There, he helps at the Maryknoll Therapeutic Community, supporting those recovering from addiction.
Addiction can cause many to fall into the justice system. At Windana, it almost feels like Danny is retracing his steps, only now focused more on the proactive side of recovery.
It’s not quite a dramatic change of lifestyle.
“From the outside it looks like it, but it’s sort of something that there was a fair bit of transitioning going on over the last few years,” he said.
“Not knowingly, just exposure to that field and probably an awakening with the people that we’re dealing with on a daily basis through the police line of work.
“Then dealing with them in another space where they’re actually having a go.”
The other space at first was with the Cardinia Tigers Reclink Football Club.
Reclink provides free and accessible opportunities for sport, including those recovering from addiction, homelessness and mental health challenges.
Danny has been integral to the Cardinia team for many years, building a strong connection with organisations like Windana, who saw his ability to connect people.
“They’re trying to be the best person they can rather than the other person that I was seeing on the worst day of their life.”
He joined the police force in late 1987. Before that, he was an avid footy player in Berwick and drifted between jobs and places.
“I think mum just put the paperwork in front of me one day and said, it’s about time you tried something and I really didn’t go into it with any long-term ideas.”
First stationed in Berwick, it was only a few months in where he had his first gun pointed at him.
A pursuit from Bald Hill Road to Clyde Road, saw the offender’s car t-boned at an intersection.
A man hanging out one of the back windows, he initiated the chase as he held a rifle and pointed it at police driving by the old Nestle Factory in Pakenham.
The offender was still hanging from the window with his firearm after the crash, though badly injured. A young Danny had to approach the vehicle, unsure of the assailant’s remaining abilities to discharge his weapon.
He and another officer took the weapon after a struggle, as its straps were firmly woven around the offender’s arms.
Months after the incident, Danny was inside a police station and noticed that the very man was out front of it.
Danny failed to avoid an interaction as he stepped outside, it was thankfully brief as all the man had to say was “it was nothing personal, mate.”
Though he wasn’t quite accepting of this olive branch, the recurring encounters and seeing people beyond the handcuffs is something he would later come to reflect on considerably.
A large chunk of the first half of his service was stationed in Dandenong and Frankston.
“The 90s were pretty bad, I suppose.
“It was a very defensive way of working, given the environment that they’re in.”
Things would change considerably after he was moved from the mean streets of the city to the country. He served stations at Warragul, Traralgon, Emerald before Bunyip.
A small town or country cop requires different styles of policing with more of an emphasis on leadership across the region.
“You’re 100 per cent immersed in Maryknoll, Bunyip, Garfield, Tynong, Nar Nar Goon to Catani, whether it’s sporting activities or progress associations.
“So that’s not always a recognised or paid thing. A lot of the stuff that you’re doing after hours is just being amongst it and that’s all right, you know.
“I don’t think I could have done it 20 years earlier. I was too busy being a hero and running around and doing the good things, the exciting things.”
This is how Reclink became an extension of his overall work and would lead to a change in career.
Windana was involved in the Reclink and always had an eye for ability with the team, but he was committed to the force.
But nearing 40 years of service, with the final few tough years marked by the Bunyip Complex Bushfires, the pandemic and the 2021 floods saw him thinking of a new evolution.
Reclink provided a new space where he could help proactively.
“I don’t need to know the full history, but I could connect with people with that stuff personally.
“There’s no promises or no shining lights at the end of it, but just the fact that I could be there with them and talk to them, know that they’re all our brothers and sisters and our sons and daughters, there’s better days and worse days, seeing the value in the program, and knowing that people were willing to give it a go.”
In his years as a police officer, he came across many familiar faces on the street, not just friends but people he had to apprehend.
As much disappointment as there was in seeing people stuck in the cycle of incineration and abuse, there were just as many run-ins with people who had made it out and rebuilt their lives.
In his work he sees the compassion and dedication it takes for those people who truly seek help, some of whom are people who otherwise would be simply labelled criminals, only worthy of publishing their various misdeeds rather than their recovery.
“The way they talk with respect, you can’t bullshit the stuff that they’re saying.
“To see that sort of transition in those guys, it might not last, but to see that just in the last few months.
“I thought, something must be working in there.
The moment he credits with the change was when he responded to a situation in Maryknoll.
On the way, he ran into old Pakenham sergeant, the late Bill Hollier.
Speaking to him, Danny was vaguely familiar with him and asked him if he remembered an incident in 1988.
To which Bill said “yep,” without further prompt.
Turns out Bill was one of the responding officers on the pursuit that ended at Clyde Road, which he recited to Danny fully.
Reliving the experience put into perspective the years previous, the young bright spark he was and the man he is today.
The full circle moment put into perspective the priorities and values in his work. A few years later, he would be venturing to a new role.
“It gives me hope, you know, that people are having a go.”
