INSIDE COPS' HARROWING FIGHT TO GET THEIR JOBS BACK AFTER BEING SACKED FOR REFUSING TO GET COVID JABS
A former rugby league star turned cop has revealed the hardship he's faced after getting sacked from the force for refusing to get vaccinated against Covid.
Father-of-five Justin Poore, 39, was fired from the NSW Police force in 2021 after refusing an order from then commissioner Mick Fuller for all officers to get the jab.
Mr Fuller removed Mr Poore and 54 other officers under the same section of the Police Act used to fire corrupt cops and accused double-murderer Beau Lamarre-Condon.
The ex-cop said he is being 'treated worse than a criminal' and was unable to find other work to support his family due to the severity of the section used to fire him.
While Mr Poore was lucky to work as a sole trader in his former profession as a plumber, he and the other former-officers still want their old jobs back.
Despite playing eight years in the NRL and representing NSW in the 2009 State of Origin, Mr Poore said policing was his real 'dream job'.
When the time came to get the jab however, he questioned higher-ups over the effect it could have on his health.
'No one could answer my questions, no one could tell me what was in it, and they couldn't tell me any long-term data that they had on it,' he told A Current Affair.
'I didn't want to take the risk.'
Mr Poore and the other officers were all promptly fired under section 181D of the Police Act which allows the commissioner to remove any cop that they have 'lost confidence in'.
He said it was used to fire 'corrupt police officers, people that forge subpoenas, people that steal money, people that steal drugs, people that do the wrong thing and break the law in a way that's irreversible'.
Those fired under the 181D have a shadow cast over them when going for future job prospects, a struggle that many of the cops fired over the jab are still fighting with.
'You're untouchable, no one is going to touch you. You wouldn't employ that person,' Mr Poore said.
Mr Poore added his 'mental health has been horrible' in the years since his dismissal, adding that there have been 'days I couldn't get out of bed'.
He said the response from police to permanently bar them from the force was 'vindictive' as unvaccinated recruits are now being welcomed in.
Other unvaccinated ex-cops who resigned before Mr Fuller's mandate are also free to re-join the force.
A statement from NSW Police says the 55 officers were fired 'following their failure to comply with a lawful direction'.
'That is, those officers were removed for failing to comply with the 2021 direction of the Commissioner that all members of the NSW Police Force were required to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
'The Commissioner expected those officers to abide by a lawful direction concerning the issue of safety.'
The statement revealed every officer fired had the 'right to seek a review of their removal order' by the NSW Industrial Relations Commission (IRC).
The IRC 'consistently' upheld the commissioners decision to dismiss the officers which has also been supported by current police commissioner Karen Webb.
'Any former officer removed from the NSW Police Force under section 181D on the basis that they did not comply with a lawful direction will not be considered eligible for re-appointment,' the statement reads.
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