Women in leadership roles

Detective Superintendent Virginia Le Bas joined the New Zealand Police in 1991. Prior to joining, she worked as a secondary school teacher, after studying a Bachelor of Physical Education, a Post Graduate Diploma in Sports Medicine and receiving her Teaching Diploma at Otago University.

Virginia started off her Police career on the frontline. Two years later she joined the Criminal Investigations Branch (CIB), where she worked for 23 years. During her time as a Detective she led many high-profile homicide and organised crime investigations. Her work as an investigator led to her receiving a Commissioner’s Commendation in 2014 for her commitment, professionalism and dedication to duty. She also received a Long Service Star for 21 years’ service.

Virginia was seconded to the Australian Federal Police in 2003 as a Program Manager in the Law Enforcement Cooperation Program. She travelled to a number of Pacific nations to provide investigative training as part of a capacity building project on behalf of the Pacific Chiefs of Police.

Currently Virginia is the National Manager Organised Crime. She is the first female to be appointed to this role, as well as the first appointed female Detective Superintendent.

Outside of work, Virginia is a keen cyclist and she frequently competes in long distance mountain and road cycle races with her partner Bob. They also enjoy travelling overseas, often touring around Europe for a few weeks at a time on their bicycles.

When Inspector Freda Grace joined the New Zealand Police in 1984, she was one of only six women in her wing.

Aside from a short time in Counties Manukau, Freda has spent the majority of her career with Police in the Waikato District. During her career she has worked in a variety of roles and areas within the organisation, including frontline, rural stations, Enquiries Office, Police Support Unit, Prosecutions, Community Policing Centre, and Operations Group; and as a Staff Sergeant and a Tactical Coordinator.

In 2013 Freda become the Road Policing Manager at Waikato District Headquarters, a position she still holds. In 2015, she took command of the Waikato District Armed Offenders Squad (AOS) – she is currently the only woman in an AOS command position.

Freda loves the challenge of policing and says she is inspired to come to work due to the great people in Police. She’s very proud of the work that Police do and the positive contributions they make to the community every day and says the difference that police officers make in the lives of victims and offenders cannot be underestimated.

Freda believes that Police provides many opportunities for all its staff and it’s just a matter of identifying those opportunities and sometimes just giving something a go.

Freda has two children and is heavily involved in their sporting activities - including water polo, karate and netball – as either a manager or in a committee role.  Freda has also served on school boards and has also been involved with the Parent Teacher’s Association.

Superintendent Tania Kura was appointed to the Eastern District Commander role in July 2017 after 5 years as the Hawkes Bay Area Commander. She has 30 years’ experience in NZ Police. She was recruited from Invercargill and was first posted to Christchurch. She has since worked in four policing Districts  - Central, Bay of Plenty, RNZPC and Eastern. Her career covers a range of areas including general duties, criminal investigations, undercover agent, intelligence, O/C station, operational field training and Area Commander. In 2016 she was the NZ Police security advisor to the NZ Olympic team in Rio de Janiero.  

Tania has three children and currently lives in Havelock North with her youngest daughter Rylie and husband Dave. Eastern district covers the sunny east coast of the north island  - Hastings, Napier and Gisborne.      

Since joining the New Zealand Police in 1992, Superintendent Tusha Penny has worked in both provincial and metropolitan areas. A significant part of her career has been spent in the Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB) investigating serious crimes including lead roles in several high profile homicides. She has also worked as a mentor in Tonga assisting to establish family violence units and was part of the New Zealand Police contingent that assisted with the Tongan riots in 2006.

Tusha has been pivotal in the change management Police have gone through over recent years in respect of child protection and sexual violence. She was critical in identifying and bringing attention to the systemic failure of Police to address child abuse investigations in the Wairarapa. She led the implementation of a multi-agency centre in Wellington known as "Koru House" which was significant in addressing a lot of the issues found in Operation Hope (the long term investigation of historic child abuse files). Tusha was the first officer to take on the role of National Manager - Child Protection and Sexual Violence in 2011 where she spearheaded a national change management programme to accelerate the Police response to the Commission of Inquiry.

From 2014 Tusha held the role of National Manager: Prevention based at Police National Headquarters in Wellington, working on a major change programme within the Family and Sexual Violence area. This gave her responsibility for family harm, victims and vulnerable whanau initiatives across the country. 

In November 2016 Tusha was selected to become the District Commander of Waitemata. She is a powerful advocate for enabling her management team and staff to lead with passion, heart and drive both in their core roles and in the leading of Our Business.  

Tusha was named as a Finalist in the 2016 Westpac Women of Influence Awards – an achievement not only because of the award status, but because she was nominated by female Inspectors within her Senior Leadership Team.

Her Iwi is Ngati Porou and she is the first Māori female District Commander in New Zealand Police. Tusha is married with two teenaged children.

"Each and every day we strive to help keep our communities safe as well as to provide some form of justice and closure for victims and their families when crime occurs. I am continually in awe of the dedication and work ethic of our police officers and employees and I am proud to be part of New Zealand Police."

Karyn has spent the majority of her career in the Criminal Investigations Branch (CIB), having joined the CIB in her fifth year with Police. In 2001, Karyn moved to Counties Manukau as a Detective Sergeant, where she was promoted to Senior Sergeant and then Detective Senior Sergeant.

Inspired to become a Detective, Karyn joined CIB after working on her first homicide in Hamilton in the early 1990s. During her time with the CIB, Karyn has been involved in many high-profile investigations, including Operation Jade and Operation Pickford, which both involved the murders of women in South Auckland. She also worked on investigating the murder of two men during a series of aggravated robberies, which resulted in the successful prosecution of five offenders. In 2009, Karyn was promoted to Detective Inspector in Northland before continuing in that role in Auckland City District until 2014.

After a stint as Tasman District Commander, Karyn is now Auckland District Commander with responsibility for the delivery of policing services in Auckland City.

Inspector Amelia Steel joined the New Zealand Police in 1997.

During her time with Police Amelia has worked in the Police Legal Section, Police Professional Conduct team, and for Prosecutions in both Lower Hutt and Dunedin.

Prior to joining Police, Amelia completed a psychology degree. Once she became a police officer, she went back to study part-time and completed a law degree before joining the Police Prosecutions team in 2004. In 2010 Amelia was promoted to Senior Sergeant and became the first female District Prosecutions Manager for the Southern District.

In 2013 Amelia was promoted from Senior Sergeant to Inspector. She was one of the first female Inspectors to be based in Dunedin permanently, along with Inspector Mel Aitken. Amelia remembers this as one of the defining moments of her career, because it meant she was in a position of influence which gave her the capability to make significant contributions to benefit staff and the organisation.

Currently Amelia is the Southern District’s Operations Manager. She is also the lead of the Southern District’s Women’s Advisory Network, a group that helps support women in Police to reach their full potential.

When Naila Hassan was a teenager, she knew being a Police Officer was what she wanted to do for her career. However when she left school she wasn’t old enough to join, so she spent the summer working as a lifeguard and a postie.

When Naila first joined the New Zealand Police she tried hard not to stand out as being ‘different’, especially as she was the only woman in her section. Diversity within the organisation back then was not as promoted as it is now, so she also kept to herself that she was a Muslim. However attitudes have come a long way since then and Naila is proud to be Muslim and working for an organisation that values diversity within its ranks.

Naila has spent the majority of her career with Police in Auckland. She spent six years in the Criminal Investigations Unit, and has also been a Prosecutor, a District Prosecutions Manager, an Area Prevention Manager, a Policing Development Manager, and a Youth and Communities Manager.

During her time with the Police Naila has also completed three degrees – a Bachelor of Policing (Investigations) from Charles Sturt University in Sydney, a Law Degree from Auckland University and a Masters in Strategic Studies from Victoria University.

Currently Naila is the Counties Manukau West Area Commander, based in Huntly. Being the Area Commander can be challenging but Naila finds it extremely rewarding and she tries to get out on the frontline with her staff as often as she can.

Outside of her career with Police, Naila is a lifeguard at Piha during the summer. Along with her partner Pete, she is an active road cyclist and they both enjoy spear fishing and free diving. They also help Naila’s twin sister raise her two teenage boys.