Public farewell for Sergeant Sandy Coutts, 12 February 1961

On 12 February 1961, Mount Maunganui residents gathered for a public farewell to Police Sergeant Alexander “Sandy” Coutts, his wife Daphne May and their daughter Heather Frances. Organised by the Lions Club and Chamber of Commerce, the evening marked Coutts’s retirement from the police. J. H. “Wilkie” Wilkinson recorded the proceedings and later, in the 1980s,  added commentary so that Coutts grandson could hear grandfathers voice. 

Wilkie recalled that the hall was filled to the doors, with people from all walks of life attending. Coutts had already been piped into the hall by Mark Griffin by the time the recording started. The evening's speeches were captured on tape.

Reverend David Keall spoke on behalf of the local churches. He described the regard in which Coutts was held throughout the community, including among people who had encountered his police work at close quarters. Keall said the expressions of affection surrounding the farewell reflected an opinion held for years. He told Sergeant and Mrs Coutts that they would leave behind the community’s affection and regard.

Magistrate Gaven Donne followed, representing the judiciary, Justice Department, lawyers, justices of the peace, police and others concerned with the administration of justice in the district. He recalled encountering Coutts at one of his first Tauranga court sittings, when the sergeant introduced himself as Alexander Coutts , saying it reminded him of the McNamara’s Band.

Donne’s tribute centred on Coutts’s judgement and his contribution to peace and harmony at Mount Maunganui. He praised the sergeant’s ability to look beyond the rules and administer justice without creating discord. In Donne’s account, the relatively few Mount Maunganui residents appearing before him in court reflected Coutts’s work. He also acknowledged Daphne’s support for her husband and wished them happiness in retirement.

A presentation was then made on behalf of the community. The gift was an inscribed chiming clock, which Coutts said would remind him of his time at Mount Maunganui. Replying on behalf of his wife and daughter, he thanked the organisers and those attending. He said the size of the gathering had surprised him and acknowledged the assistance of his own staff and the police at Tauranga.

Coutts used his reply to recount his police career. He had joined in Christchurch, attended the training depot and returned to Christchurch before serving at the Public Works camp at Parnassus. Later postings took him to Little River, Palmerston North, Auckland and New Plymouth before Mount Maunganui. He recalled his unpopularity during the Second World War when he was required to confiscate privately owned .303 rifles from local farmers in Palmerston North.

As a young recruit in Christchurch, Coutts had been assigned to keep watch over a garage after two attempts to set it alight. He recalled sitting there night after night, from about seven in the evening until three in the morning. One night, while almost asleep, he heard glass breaking. Under instructions to keep his presence secret, he remained inside. A few minutes later, a fire engine pulled up outside. For a moment, he feared the building had been set on fire with him in it. The fire, he discovered, was next door.

At Little River, a Māori schoolmaster had complained that children were arriving at school tired and falling asleep because their parents were gambling late into the night. Coutts went to the house after midnight, looked through a window and then kicked at the door. By the time it opened, some of the occupants had disappeared, although he could see only one way out. Looking around, he spotted a man's boots in the fireplace: the man had tried to escape up the chimney. Elsewhere, a woman was trying to get beneath a bed while another held on to her, insisting, “If I go to jail, you are coming too.” The story drew laughter from the audience.

Coutts also told a story at his own expense. During a very wet night on duty in Palmerston North, at about three in the morning, he had taken a seat in a taxi. “It was fatal,” he recalled. “I dozed off to sleep.” His account went on to describe the taxi moving and the driver's alarm at discovering his passenger, although the details are indistinct in the surviving recording.

His move to Mount Maunganui provided another recollection. Before applying, he had been told it was a small fishing village across the harbour, with sand roads. He was not initially keen. A conversation with a police colleague on holiday in New Plymouth persuaded him to give it a try. Having won the position, he said, he had never regretted coming.

Coutts also joked about his friend Jack Trapski, a lawyer, saying he believed he was the only man in Mount Maunganui who could visit the man's office for legal advice for nothing. Laughter and applause punctuated his reply. Saying that he could tell stories all night but had better stop, he thanked the gathering and promised to return to visit.

Before supper, the closing speaker thanked the organisers, helpers and entertainers, with particular mention of a Māori group and the evening’s master of ceremonies.

In his later commentary, Wilkinson recalled that the Coutts family moved to Auckland, where Sandy subsequently worked packing groceries for shipment to the islands. Wilkinson also described meeting Heather again and making her a copy of the farewell recording so that her youngest son, who had never known his grandfather, could hear his voice. Looking back over his own 33 years at Mount Maunganui, Wilkinson said Coutts was the only person he recalled receiving a public farewell of this kind.