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WA Police Legacy: Non-profit organisation supports police families though network of vital services

“They think their dad’s a picture frame, because that’s all they see him in.” That’s the reality for Jacinta Brindley, who was 22 years old and three months’ pregnant with twins, Luca and Milena, when her partner Luke, a police officer, took his own life in 2023. He was just 23. Ms Brindley and her then three-year-old daughter Lyla, had moved in with Luke just days earlier, planning for their growing family. They had met at Kwinana police station, where Ms Brindley was a customer service officer and Luke was a constable. “I’d moved in, we’d bought stuff for the twins over the weekend. We went and bought cots and mattresses and sheets and set up Lyla’s toy room,” she said. The loss was earth-shattering. The rug had been ripped from beneath her, leaving her a single mum of one — soon to be three. That’s when the “blue family” wrapped its arms around the young family. Through WA Police Legacy, a not-for-profit dedicated to supporting blue families across the State, Ms Brindley was connected with a network of support services, including suicide postvention and bereavement program StandBy, children’s grief support organisation Lionheart, and suicide bereavement service ARBOR (Active Response Bereavement Outreach). “The six months after Luke died I was still pregnant. I was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, trying to come to terms with it and trying to make sense of it,” Ms Brindley, now 25, said. “That’s the hardest bit with suicide, you don’t get the answers.” While navigating her own grief, the young mother also had to tell Lyla. “Trying to explain death to a three-year-old is awful,” she said. “It’s hard for anyone to comprehend, let alone a three-year-old, how he’s there one second and he’s not there the next.” At Luke’s funeral, the sight of police stopped Ms Brindley in her tracks. “I just remember walking to the burial site, and I turned around and the amount of blue. . . I couldn’t walk,” she said. “I’ve never seen that many police officers. . . they’re all in unison, they’re all there for the same reason. It’s an awful tragedy, but they’re all there. “That’s the meaning of blue family.” Ms Brindley’s grief quickly became all-consuming, and she lost a significant amount of weight. “I didn’t shower for like six weeks. I didn’t do anything. I was on my phone for 24 hours a day. It’s easier to be in that and not have to face reality,” she said. “I probably slept maybe 30 minutes a day. I wasn’t sleeping, I wasn’t eating, I was pregnant. “I was having to go for emergency scans because I wasn’t eating. The doctors were a bit concerned. . . I don’t think I ate for two weeks.” The police station rallied around her as they grieved the loss of a friend and colleague. A plaque outside the station now commemorates the young constable. But it wasn’t just the grief of losing her partner, it was also the injustice of Luca and Milena never meeting their loving father. “We didn’t ever get to experience (what) we should have experienced,” Ms Brindley said. “There’s all these plans. . . being a mum of three and not having to do it on my own again, (but) that didn’t work out. “And I feel like that’s not fair on the twins because, they don’t know. They think their dad’s a picture frame, because that’s all they see him in.” WA Police Legacy continues to help Ms Brindley access much-needed financial support for daycare, school holidays, Christmas and more, as she raises the now two-year-old Luca and Milena and six-year-old Lyla. The charity recently launched its inaugural Hearts of Blue Raffle to keep funding the vital support it provides to police families. Tickets are available for purchase until December 19, with proceeds helping initiatives that support WA Police and their families. WA Police Legacy chief executive Kelly Bradley said the raffle was a meaningful way for the community to give back to those who protect and serve. “Our police officers dedicate their lives to serving others, and through the generosity of the community, we can ensure their families are never forgotten,” she said. Ms Brindley said WA Police Legacy’s help “became a lifeline” after Luke’s death. “I’m at that stage of grief where I feel like I just carry him with me,” Ms Brindley said. “All I can do to remember him the best is to raise the kids well. Raise the twins to remember him. I’m always telling them things about him.” She described Luke as “goofy” and “definitely a character” at work, and a doting partner at home. “He was very, very caring. He just loved me and I loved him,” she said. “I’d come home and there’d be new flowers, or chocolates that I liked, or ‘I bought this because I thought of you’. “To be loved and to be in love. . . that’s the two things you want in life, and that’s how I felt when I was with Luke.” Lifeline 13 11 14 Beyond Blue 1300 224 636 StandBy Support After Suicide 1300 727 247 WA Police Legacy

exclusiveWA Police Legacy: Non-profit organisation supports police families though network of vital services

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WA Police Legacy: Non-profit organisation supports police families though network of vital services