New Zealand Police staff are celebrating after winning at the Excellence in Policing Awards.
Held in Sydney on Wednesday night, officers from Wellington and Bay of Plenty, and a Director at PNHQ were recognised at the ceremony, organised by The Australasian Council of Women and Policing (ACWAP).
Senior Sergeant Yvette McKelvie of Wellington District won The Excellence in Research on Improving Law Enforcement for Women Award.
Senior Constable Christine (Chrissie) Lunt of Bay of Plenty District was recognised with a Highly Commended Award in the Emerging Leadership category.
Assurance Director Mike Webb of PNHQ received a Highly Commended Award in Champion of Change category.
Presenting Yvette with her award, ACWAP said: “Yvette is passionate and inspirational in her academic and practical leadership, influence, and work to improve policing service delivery to the community and encourage women in Police to reach the heights of their potential by tackling the barriers that have disadvantaged them.
"She has demonstrated a passion and commitment towards understanding the barriers to success and finding solutions for the challenges facing women.”
In seeking an award for Chrissie, a detector dog handler in Rotorua, colleagues remarked: “Not content with just making a significant impact on disrupting organised crime, Senior Constable Christine Lunt has established herself as an expert in the drug field and is using her knowledge to not only make our community safer, but to help others do the same.”
In the nomination for Mike, fellow staff highlighted that he has “had a profound impact on improving law enforcement for women through his courage in challenging the status quo, commitment to championing women at every opportunity, and his relentless determination to advance women in policing.”
Congratulations also to Inspector Andrea McBeth of Waikato and Principal Advisor Kathryn Wilson of PNHQ for reaching the finals in the Most Outstanding Female Leader and Emerging Leadership categories, respectively.