For International Women's Day - how our women have literally made history.
Life and career intersected for Superintendent Penny Gifford when her son opened his NCEA history paper and saw the topic - ‘The rise of women in the New Zealand Police’.
“When my son came home and showed me the exam booklet, I was pleasantly surprised to see such a relevant topic for his history exam,” says Penny, Director of Tactical Operations.
“I said to him, ‘No pressure fella, but you better have done well on that question!’”
The NCEA level 3 exam paper, number 91436, asked the students to ‘Analyse evidence relating to an historical event of significance to New Zealanders’ and featured several trailblazers in Police.
They included Marie Storey, one of our first female officers and a member of the third intake of women into Police in 1943.
Also featured was former Canterbury District Commander Sandra Manderson QSM, our first female superintendent and district commander, who famously once said: “I wasn’t there to make tea, I was there to make a difference”. She retired in 2018.
The question also referenced the first police woman to wear the official uniform hijab – Constable Zeena Ali.
It also featured some very old-style recruitment advertising from the 1960s and 1970s, to show how far we’ve come.
Penny didn’t feature in the exam paper, but she’s certainly a feature at the New Zealand Police Museum as part of a large photographic display relating to the Armed Offenders Squad (AOS).
Police celebrated the 75th anniversary of women in policing in style in 2016. You can check out the latest stats on women in our workforce below.
Penny, who has 31 years’ service, joined the AOS in the early 2000s, but she wasn't the first. Women first joined the AOS in the 1990s.
“When we put together the exhibition to mark 50 years since the formation of the Armed Offenders Squads, we called upon Penny to wear both the AOS and general duties uniforms,” says Rowan Carroll, Museum Director. “The public could then compare tactical options.
"Penny therefore has been one of our role models for women in policing – she’s iconic!
“It’s great to see this topic being showcased in our educational system and we will keep the NCEA paper here in our collection at the museum."
Police has long had the aim of enhancing the diversity of recruits, so the history question is very timely – particularly given the Puhikura recruitment campaigns launched in 2022 to encourage more Māori women to consider a career in blue.
NZQA Chief Executive Grant Klinkum says it is important that school exams reflect the world the students see around them.
“This history standard involves analysing evidence relating to an historical event of significance to New Zealanders, and markers noted that candidates engaged enthusiastically with the topic of policewomen in New Zealand,” he says.
Penny’s son did, indeed, do well on the paper. “Good news, and lucky for him, my son actually passed that history paper with flying colours,” says Penny. “He has now gone on to university, so that’s a good result.”
WHERE WE STAND - the stats
⇔ This is the first International Women's Day where Police has more than 6000 female full time employees in the organisation.
⇔ As at 29 February 2024, there were 5994 female staff, and 43 female recruits (of 157) at the Royal New Zealand Police College.
⇔ Excluding recruits, 38.5 percent of our 15,564 total strength is female.
⇔ We have 2801 female constabulary members, or 26.1 percent of our 10,730 constabulary strength; and 3193 female non-constabulary members, or 66 percent of 4834).
WHERE WE STOOD
⇔ Since 28 February 2019, Police's total female workforce has increased 39 percent (from 4322); and female constabulary strength has increased 38 percent (from 2033).
⇔ Over the same time, our total workforce has increased 21 percent (from 12,851); and constabulary workforce has increased 14 percent (from 9425)
