The first 2026 wing to graduate from the New Zealand Police Auckland campus will be acknowledged and celebrated this Friday 26 June.
They will soon be boosting the frontline with two new constables bound for Northland District and 32 deployed across Tāmaki Makaurau.
The 32 Auckland-trained graduates will join 21 Porirua-trained graduates from the 396 Chiquita Holden Wing who are also bound for Tāmaki Makaurau. The 396 wing are graduating tomorrow from the Royal New Zealand Police College in Porirua.
This makes a total of 53 new constables starting their duties in the wider Auckland region the week beginning Monday 6 July.
Media are invited to the graduation of the 397 Rod Bell ONZM Wing
What: Graduation of the New Zealand Police 397 Recruit Wing
Who: For families and friends to celebrate with the new graduates
Why: Completion and graduation from their initial training course
Where: Barfoot and Thompson Stadium, 203 Kohimarama Road, Kohimarama, Auckland
When: Thursday 26 June at 11am - media will need to be in place by 10.45am
How: RSVP if you’re attending: media@police.govt.nz
Wing 397graduates
Five of the graduates are following in the footsteps of family and joining the front line. Fifteen were born in countries other than New Zealand – many of them from England. Seven of the new graduates are ex-military and 20 have tertiary qualifications.
One graduate bound for Counties Manukau is Taina Fox-Matamua: Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu. Taina was a professional NPC rugby player who played for the Tasman Mako and played professionally in Italy for three years. He will be based in Manurewa.
Wing Patron
Rod Bell ONZM is a former New Zealand Police officer and long-standing youth advocate. A past CEO of Blue Light, Rod is currently Blue Light’s Operations Manager.
Rod joined New Zealand Police in 1983 as a member of Wing 87. Following graduation, he worked on the frontline in Auckland Central and Takapuna, later moving into the Criminal Investigation Unit. In 1989 he was appointed Officer in Charge at Wellsford Police Station, leading a small team and covering communities including Mangawhai and surrounding districts.
Returning to Auckland in the mid-1990s, Rod held a range of leadership roles from Section Sergeant to Sergeant in Charge of Team Policing and Youth Services. He retired from Police in 2001 after developing and overseeing the Crime Control Unit.
Alongside his policing career, Rod built a business that grew from a hobby into a company with 35 staff before being sold in 2005. He went on to establish, grow and later sell two further businesses. During this period, Rod also became the inaugural CEO of Blue Light National, serving in a voluntary capacity until 2012 and helping lay the foundations for the organisation’s national growth.
In 2014, Rod was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) for services to youth and the Police. At the end of 2023, he stepped down as CEO of Blue Light after expanding the organisation to more than 120 staff and supporting the establishment of the Blue Light Foundation to help fund the work of Blue Light’s 75 branches across New Zealand. Along with his Operations Manager role, he is currently a Trustee of the Blue Light Foundation.
ENDS
If you’re interested in joining police check out newcops.govt.nz
Issued by Police Media Centre
