Forty two women and 36 men have accomplished their goals to become constables, with the graduation of Wing 315 from the Royal New Zealand Police College today.
The large contingent of women supports Police aspirations for females to make up half of all of recruits by 2021.
A butcher, a hairdresser, a captain from the Republic of Korea Army and a string of university-educated people are among those graduating.
The patron for this wing is New Zealand’s first female prime minister, Dame Jenny Shipley, who led the country between 1997 and 1999.
An avid promoter of the value and relevance of inclusion and diversity, today Dame Jenny is an Independent Director of China Construction Bank NZ and Chair of Genesis Energy.
Police Commissioner Mike Bush and Police Minister Stuart Nash will be attending the ceremony in Porirua.
One person who’ll be easy to spot at the parade will be National Basketball League player Nicholas Barrow, who stands at a cloud-scraping 6’ 8” (203cm).
Another officer who is used to being at great heights is Vivek Remesh Balakrishna Pillai. He holds a private pilot licence, is commercial licence trained, and speaks Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi.
We also welcome Bengali speaker Nadine Vickers, who spent her early childhood in Nepal. Her previous job was an administrator/fundraiser in Bangladesh. She has served in the NZDF Army Reserves as a medic since 2007.
A good number of the wing has a background in sport, including orienteering, athletics, rugby, and hockey.
This group is not short of educational achievements, either. Dozens hold bachelor degrees in business, health, arts, commerce and sport.
Several graduates have cut their teeth in Police by performing support roles as dispatcher, communicators and File Management Centre workers.
A number of new constables have deep personal connections with Police. These include Loren Marley.
She keeps a long tradition running by becoming the fifth generation of her family to join Police, following her father, grandfather, great-grandfather and great great-grandfather.
The graduation will be held this afternoon (Thursday 28 June) at the Royal New Zealand Police College in Porirua, between 2pm and 3.30pm.
ENDS
Media please RSVP to media@police.govt.nz by midday if you are interested in attending today.
Police Media Centre
