Women in different roles and from diverse backgrounds

Detective Sergeant Shelley Ross first joined the New Zealand Police in 1995.

Being an investigator is Shelley’s passion and in 1999 she joined the Criminal Investigation Branch. During her time with the CIB she has worked in many of the different areas, including Homicide, Serious Assaults, Kidnapping, Arson, Aggravated Robbery, Child Abuse and Adult Sexual Assault.

Her hardest cases include the Lundy homicide, in which the graphic nature of the scene made her question her future with the CIB, and a murder of a two year old girl who was the same age Shelley’s daughter was at the time.

Currently she so attached to the Tactical Crime Unit of the Manawatu Area CIB, based at Palmerston North Station. She is the supervisor of a team of four investigators and they investigate volume crime, including Burglary, Car theft and motor vehicle theft. They also deal with offenders who have relapsed into their past criminal behaviour, including those on Warrants to Arrest and Parole Recall Warrants

Earlier this year Shelley celebrated 21 years with the Police. Shelley juggles her career as a policewomen with being a mum to her two daughters Jaime and Jorja.

Constable Paula Tanuvasa first joined the New Zealand Police in 2001.

Paula spent her first five years with the Police on the frontline, before transferring to Forensic Photography. In 2011, she was sent to Christchurch as part of the Disaster Victim Identification Team after the February earthquake.

In 2014 Paula became the Wellington Maritime Unit’s first female crew member aboard the Lady Elizabeth IV. Growing up diving and fishing in the Bay of Plenty town of Katikati, as well as owning her own boat, provided Paula with the experience she needed for the role. Constable Alison Campkin, a senior launch master with the Auckland police maritime unit, is the only other female maritime police officer on New Zealand waters.

Currently the majority of Paula’s work is training, as she has only been with the unit for two years. Training includes navigation work and practicing helming with the Sergeant in Charge. She is also occasionally out on the beat for general policing duties.

Outside of work, Paula enjoys catching up with family and friends and spending time with her teenage daughter. She still enjoys fishing, as well as taking her dog Scruff for a walk and getting her camera out to take photos.

Constable Mandeep Kaur joined the New Zealand Police in 2004.

During her time with the New Zealand Police, Mandeep has worked as a Frontline Officer, in Road Policing, Family Violence, the Investigation Support Unit, Neighbourhood Policing and Community Policing.

Mandeep was the first female Indian-born officer in the New Zealand Police. Her journey to become a police officer came with many personal and cultural barriers, which she faced while raising her two children on her own. However she is proud to have overcome these challenges to be where she is today.

Mandeep’s religion is a big part of her life and she regularly worships at Gurudwara, the Hindu temple in Counties Manukau. She has also formed a New Zealand Police Bhangra-dancing group and they performed in their Police uniforms at Aotea Square’s Diwali Festival last year.

Currently Mandeep works as an Ethnic Peoples Community Relations Officer, based at Henderson Police Station in Waitemata. Her role involves attending community meetings, hosting media programmes, visiting family violence victims and attending to any other matters where there is a need for ethnic or cultural advice.

Constable Carmen Stewart has been a member of New Zealand Police since 2007.

Before joining Police, Carmen had a varied career. She started as a St John Ambulance Service Volunteer before becoming a full-time member in 1995. She then became a funeral director and embalmer. She credits these jobs with shaping her choice of policing as a career as they sparked a desire to be there for families at times of tragedy.

Since joining Police Carmen has worked in a variety of roles, including emergency response, traffic and watch house. In 2009 she became an Inquest Officer, with responsibility for managing police enquiries on behalf of the Coroner, representing Police at ordinary and special Inquest hearings, liaising with the various industries relating to deaths and liaising with the families of the deceased. Inquest Officers are also the ‘go-to’ police officers for advice and guidance for frontline staff and they help provide frontline police training.

Through her work as an Inquest Officer she has been involved in the evolution of the current Wellington District inquest team and has helped identify areas for improvement in the inquest process at a national level.

Carmen's Christian faith is exemplified in her active life at The Rock Church. Recently she and Superintendent Anna Jackson were invited to the morning service at the Cathedral of St Paul to talk about faith in the workplace. Carmen drew inspiration from her work with families, sharing a testimony about humility, mercy and the increasing acceptance of compassion as a cornerstone of policing.

Carmen is based at Wellington Central Police Station.

Constable Tracey Bransgrove joined the New Zealand Police in 2002.

Tracey started off as a General Duties Constable in Dunedin, before she became an Enquiry Officer in North Dunedin. During the February 2011 earthquakes, Tracey was a part of the Earthquake Reassurance Policing team. She says assisting the Christchurch staff on the day of the quake was an experience she’ll never forget, and she remembers feeling incredibly vulnerable walking the streets with sirens wailing and seeing the extent of all the destruction.

Tracey is qualified as a Protection Officer, which involves planning and implementing VIP visits. She says it was tough and challenging finishing the course, as it took her outside her comfort zone, but it’s incredibly rewarding seeing everything come together on the day – even when protestors get thrown in the mix. Tracey has worked with the Governor General, Prime Minister and Members of Parliament, and on Royal visits.

Tracey is also qualified as a Level Three child interviewer, dealing with a lot of serious child abuse cases. She says working in this role is challenging but very rewarding.

Currently Tracey works in an enquiries office that investigates complaints initiated by frontline staff, as well as being a part of a Uniform Team that assists the Criminal Investigations Branch. She is also an on-call forensic photographer, as she has a keen interest in photography.

Outside of work Tracey is very active, enjoying sports and getting outdoors. She is a keen cyclist and has competed in many mountain running races and triathlons, including the GODzone adventure race. Tracey’s two daughters are also very active, both in swimming and surf lifesaving, and Tracey often travels away with them as a parent-help when they compete at regional competitions.

In 2000, Constable Karen Vaughan was an experienced member of the Child Abuse team in Wellington, when the Crown Solicitor requested that she travel to Auckland to assist with some interviewing. Kent (UK) police had commenced an investigation into allegations of rape on Pitcairn Island in the Central Pacific Ocean. The young girl at the centre of the investigation had been moved to New Zealand for her own safety and for further inquiries to be made. Pitcairn is best known for its population, many of whom are direct descendants of Tahitian women and sailors that escaped to the island after the mutiny on the British ship The Bounty in 1789.

Karen interviewed the girl who claimed that she had been sexually abused on a number of occasions and told of other girls who had received the same treatment. ‘Operation Unique’ was born, resulting in Karen and her Kent associates subsequently conducting further inquiries in Pitcairn, Australia, Norfolk Island, Los Angeles and the United Kingdom, as many of the alleged victims had moved from the island.

The statements of complaint from the alleged victims resulted in the identification of 30 potential suspects and 96 charges were laid. In 2001 Karen travelled to Pitcairn to examine 50 crime scenes and to assist with the drafting of supporting information and 120 indictments relating to the alleged offences. Sworn in as a police officer by the Governor of Pitcairn, Karen also assisted the Public Prosecutor to prepare submissions to the New Zealand government, which ultimately resulted in the Pitcairn court hearings being conducted in New Zealand. After much legal argument over whether Britain had authority over the island and its people, there were a number of successful prosecutions.

For Karen, a seemingly brief trip to Auckland for an interview became an almost six year saga. When the Pitcairn investigation began, Karen’s children were aged two, three and five, so Police would not have been able to utilise Karen’s special skills without the strong support of her family. During the investigation, Karen spent 670 nights away from home, took more than 250 international and domestic flights, visited Pitcairn six times and Australia 12 times, as well as the United Kingdom, Norfolk Island and cities throughout New Zealand. Each Pitcairn trip took almost a month and involved long days in small vessels, in often rough sea conditions.

After a period as a family violence coordinator, Karen is now a Senior Prosecutor based in Porirua.