It’s not every day you go to work and hang out with world-famous pop stars…
A summer festival north of Auckland delivered more than good vibes for Police at SIX60’s Sweet Home Aotearoa music festival in Matakana.
“I was just going to grab some water,” explains Sergeant Mark Stallworthy, “and next thing Matiu (SIX60’s lead singer) came up to me and asked if they could use our patrol car to shoot a video.”
It was one of those moments where you’re supposed to play it cool… but Mark admits he didn’t.
“I fan-girled hard! It was the happiest moment of my life,” he laughs - though his wife wasn’t quite as impressed to hear that.
The band filmed a short clip of Matiu singing their new song ‘Made it’ from the back seat, later posting it on Facebook with the cheeky caption: "We made it… to the back of the Police car 🫣”
Lead singer Matiu Walters added in the comments: “I wish I could say this was the first time I was in the back of one of these…”
District Shift Commander Senior Sergeant Dean Roberts was on a late shift and just happened to pop in to check on the team when all this was playing out.
“I heard some guy strumming on a guitar and thought it must’ve been some wannabe…”
Dean says he managed to play it cooler than “star-struck” Mark but admits awkwardness may have got the better of him.
“When I told my wife she said, ‘I hope you weren’t awkward’. She was very jealous.
“You really do never know what you’re going to get one shift to the next."