Marie Storey

Marie Storey (nee Nixon), joined the New Zealand Police in 1943 as part of the 3^rd intake of women. Her father had been a Senior Sergeant with Police and was the Editor of the Police Gazette. He had died just before she joined, but he had seen the first intake of women and had been very pleased with the idea of women in the Police.

By the time Marie joined it was thought that it was better for experienced women to explain aspects of the job to the new trainees, so Marie and the other female recruits in her intake were often given lectures and on-the-job training from women who had been in the job for a few years.

During her time as a policewomen, Marie and the other women were often used as decoys to help catch offenders. She remembers one time being used as bait in Mount Victoria to catch a man who had been harassing women. She was tasked with walking back and forwards along a path waiting for the man to appear. On reaching the bottom of the track for the fifth time a cat walked out, startling Marie and itself, and sent them both running. Marie recalls that her male colleague was quite impressed at her speed in reaching the nearest lamp post.

She was also involved in an operation to catch an Australian man who had been making obscene phone calls to women. The operation was a success and resulted in the arrest of a high-ranking Australian bandsman who was touring New Zealand at the time.

Marie married and left the New Zealand Police in 1947 when she became pregnant with her first child.