Angela Harwood, QSM

Prior to immigrating to New Zealand in 1964 Angela was a policewoman in Birmingham, England. She was initially posted to Wellington where she found the work very limited. She remembers how amazed people were when she and another policewoman arrested a burglar.

Angela was the first policewoman in Porirua, and later, in Tauranga. In 1968 on the day of the Wahine disaster she was assigned duty on the Eastbourne side of Wellington Harbour. Besides assisting survivors, she helped in the task of retrieving bodies of those who had drowned. She also spent some days sorting and recording property that had been recovered and reuniting it with their owners.

In 1969 she transferred to Auckland to fill a vacancy in the Youth Aid Section, where she found her niche working with young people. After a period working in Tauranga, Angela returned to Auckland to continue in Youth Aid. She was promoted to senior sergeant in charge of the Youth Aid Section.

1979 ended on a sombre note with the loss of the Air New Zealand DC10 on Mount Erebus. While no policewomen took part in the recovery process several were involved in the identification phase of ‘Operation Overdue’. Angela was appointed Officer-in-Charge of Inquests. Her responsibility was to ensure that bodies matched up with particulars of passengers who had been on the flight. Because several passengers were from overseas she often worked with interpreters when preparing files for the coroner. She attended court for all the cases.

When community policing became the principal focus of the service it provided an area of specialisation where policewomen could use their communication skills to benefit others. Angela was promoted to Inspector and appointed Community Relations Coordinator for the Manukau District. Her job was to liaise with other departments, organisations and ethnic groups, fostering good relations between them and police. She was also responsible for overseeing community constables, Youth Aid section, crime prevention and programmes in schools as well as facilitating Neighbourhood Watch in the area.

Always keen to promote the advance of women in the service she chaired the Auckland Committee for the celebration of 50 years of policewomen in New Zealand. In 1981 she was awarded the QSM for services to young people and the handicapped.