The All Blacks may have been back in action at the weekend, but now there’s a team in blue taking the field.
Police welcomed 60 new officers into the line-up late last month when Recruit Wing 375 celebrated the end of their 20 weeks' initial training. They started work in their districts this week.
Like most wings, members came from diverse backgrounds; some had worked for Police in other roles, or had loved ones in Police, or worked in other uniformed services; some had been volunteers; many were keen sports people – and this time a large number had excelled in rugby.
Appropriately, team spirit was the theme of the day as they graduated at the Te Rauparaha Arena, Porirua, in front of family and other wellwishers, Patron Dr Diana Sarfati, Associate Police Minister Casey Costello, Commissioner Andrew Coster and other Police Executive members.
Speakers included Commissioner Andrew Coster, Patron Dr Diana Sarfati and Associate Minister Casey Costello. In their other roles, the guests are Director-General of Health and Associate Minister of Health respectively.
Patron Diana said she had seen the wing move during their training from being a group of individuals to being “a cohesive, unified, professional wing”.
She paid tribute to the team members back home – the whānau and friends – for the sacrifices they made to support the graduates.
“There will have been lawns that have gone unmowed, bedtime stories that will have gone unread, netball teams that will have had to bring in subs, families that have tightened their belts, grandparents that haven’t been visited, and life’s special moments that have been missed.”
Constable Kate Naylor, having a ball at the RNZPC, and running with the ball on the rugby pitch.
Among the sporty graduates, Constable Kate Naylor (Southern) is a rugby representative for Otago. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and will start her policing career in Dunedin.
She was inspired to join Police by her cousin, a former Wellington-based police officer.
Another of the rugby squad is Constable Avalon Strang (Counties Manukau), who represented North Harbour in the Farrah Palmer Cup last year. She was a teacher’s aide and worked at a fitness centre in Kerikeri before choosing policing.
Constable Kate Naylor, having a ball at the RNZPC, and running with the ball on the rugby pitch.
Constable Deb Fuller (Bay of Plenty) has played rugby 7s and 15s but has other sporting strings to her bow – she is known as a competitive cyclist, a runner, and ironman competitor. Debs has a Bachelor of Science in Human Nutrition and Exercise Science.
Constable Bailey Taylor (Ngāti Porou - Canterbury District) knows all about teamwork. He was previously in the New Zealand Army and helped run the Limited Service Volunteer programme as an instructor in the Youth Development Unit at Burnham Camp. He’s another accomplished rugby player, having previously represented Manawatū and the New Zealand Defence Blacks.
Constable Bailey Taylor, left, in Police and Army modes. On the right, in an appropriately aquatic setting, is Constable Blayde Fiu. Below, right: Constables McDonald and Wilson.
Constable Blayde Fiu (Counties Manukau), winner of the Physical Training and Defensive Tactics Award, is more at home in the water than on the pitch - he represented Fiji in the Oceania swimming champs in Christchurch. His experience on dry land includes time as a corrections officer - at London's Wormwood Scrubs prison as well as in New Zealand.
Another prize winner, Firearms Award winner Constable Angus McDonald (Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki - Eastern District), played rugby for the Bay of Plenty Steamers. He points out that he’s not the other Angus MacDonald - note different spelling - who also played for the Steamers, back in the day. “No relation,” he says.
Constable Alexandra Wilson is not a rugby player, but she knows about achieving goals.
Alexandra won the Minister’s Award for Top of Wing – and she has a CV truly fit for policing with a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice, as a former Deputy Court Registrar and as a former residential care worker for an Oranga Tamariki youth justice residence.
In her spare time, she plays lead tenor drums in a pipe band.
Alexandra has the last word on being a member of Team 375. The wing was a team environment, she said, and after the highs, lows and hard work of the 20 weeks' initial training, it was awesome to be standing with her wingmates for graduation.
"They all have my back. We're a family now."
More about Wing 375
Awards
Minister’s Award for First in Wing: Constable Alexandra Wilson (Canterbury)
Patron’s Award for Second in Wing: Constable Jacob Pepper (Canterbury)
Commissioner’s Award for Leadership: Constable Rameka Thomas-Dorante (Bay of Plenty)
Driver Training and Road Policing Practice Award: Constable Zania Jarvie (Waikato)
Firearms Award: Constable Angus McDonald (Eastern)
Physical Training and Defensive Tactics Award: Constable Blayde Fiu (Counties Manukau)
Deployment
The new constables joined their districts on Monday, 8 July 2024.
They are deployed as follows:
Northland 1, Tāmaki Makaurau a total of 16 and broken down as follows: Waitematā - 4, Counties Manukau - 12, Waikato - 5, Bay of Plenty - 8, Eastern - 2, Central - 3, Wellington - 12, Tasman - 1, Canterbury - 9, Southern - 3.
Demographics
23.3 percent are female, and 76.7 percent are male. New Zealand European make up 56 percent of the wing, with Māori 11.7 percent, Pasifika 11.7 percent, Asian 13.3 percent and LAAM – 1.7 and Other – 5.0 percent.
About the Patron
Dr Diana Sarfati is a respected and skilled leader in health with a public sector, clinical and academic background.
She is the Director-General of Health and Chief Executive of the Ministry of Health, a role she was appointed to in November 2022 after four months acting in it.
Diana is a public health physician, cancer epidemiologist and health services researcher. She has a PhD, a Masters in Public Health and a Bachelors in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Otago.
Some of her previous roles have included Tumuaki, Chief Executive and National Director of Te Aho o Te Kahu – Cancer Control Agency; and National Director of Cancer Control at the Ministry of Health, where she oversaw the implementation of the agency. From 2015 to 2019, Diana was the co-head and then head of the Department of Public Health and the Director of the Cancer and Chronic Conditions (C3) research group at University of Otago, Wellington.
She is a former member of the National Cancer Programme Leadership Board, the National Screening Advisory Group, the National Ethics Advisory Committee, the Bowel Cancer Taskforce, and the National Bowel Cancer Screening Advisory Committee. She also holds a number of international roles.