Ninety eight recruits will celebrate the start of an exciting and rewarding career at the Wing 318 graduation this Thursday 20 September.
Wing patron Laulu Mac Leauanae will be in attendance, who is currently the Chief Executive for the Ministry of Pacific Peoples. Deputy Commissioner Mike Clement, Police Minister Hon Stuart Nash and other guests will be present at the event.
Ranging from 19 to 50 years old, the new constables bring a range of skills and experience to New Zealand Police.
Emma Milburn, who’s off to Canterbury District, is already accustomed to working at odd hours and being in a range of conditions. She did ten years in NZ LandSAR as an operational search dog handler. Emma and her dog Dart were awarded a Certificate of Achievement at the NZSAR Awards in 2015 for their commitment to search for a missing 79-year-old man.
Emma isn’t sure if she’ll try her hand as a Police dog handler, but intends to continue as a LandSAR volunteer and is keen to become involved in Police Search and Rescue and Disaster Victim Identification work.
Isaac Pio, who was born in Kuwait and speaks Hindi, previously worked as a technology specialist at Scott Base for Antarctica NZ and is off to Counties Manukau district. Other members of Wing 318 hail from Italy, Germany, India, Switzerland, Brazil and the United Kingdom.
Catherine Van Der Spuy, whose fiancé is already a Police constable, previously worked as a Police Investigation Support Unit employee. She also dances in the Police Bhangra Dance Group and performed at the Diwali Festival in Auckland City this year. Catherine is of South African descent, speaking Afrikaans, and will work in Waitemata district.
A number of the new constables have worked for Police behind the frontline, some having worked in Police Communications Centres and Police Intelligence Units across the country. Five of the new constables have worked in district custody units as Police Authorised Officers too.
Many of the new constables have served New Zealand in other capacities – a number of them former Corrections Officers, a Customs Officer and several have served in the New Zealand Defence Force too, some working overseas deployments to Solomon Islands, Afghanistan, East Timor, Sinai and Papa New Guinea.
Awards
Commissioner’s Award for Leadership – Constable Carl Milner, Waikato District
Patron’s Award, recognising second top student – Constable Sophie Gurnsey, Central District
Minister’s Award recognising top student – Constable Tyler Sintes, Canterbury District
Physical Training and Defensive Tactics Award – Constable Leigh Clarke, Waikato District
Driver Training and Road Policing Practise Award – Constable Mitchell Wooding, Waikato District
Firearms Award – Constable Tyler Sintes, Canterbury District
Deployment information
Northland- 5
Waitemata - 15
Auckland - 8
Counties Manukau - 16
Waikato - 9
Bay of Plenty - 5
Eastern - 4
Central - 7
Wellington - 10
Tasman - 1
Canterbury - 12
Southern - 6
Media
Media are welcome to attend the Graduation Parade which takes place at Royal New Zealand Police College in Porirua. The ceremony starts at 2pm on Thursday. Any media wishing to attend the graduation should contact the Police Media Centre at media@police.govt.nz.
ENDS
Issued by the Police media Centre
