Sarah Stewart

Inspector Sarah Stewart joined the New Zealand Police in 1997.

Sarah started her working life as a teacher in Gisborne in 1995 but left after two years to follow in the footsteps of her father, who had been a Sergeant with the Police.

After graduating from Police College, Sarah moved back to Gisborne for five years. She then joined the Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB) in Lower Hutt. During her time with the CIB, Sarah was sent to the Solomon Islands, spending 12 months there working on Civil War homicides and mentoring police officers.

Sarah says there was one case in particular that she investigated during her time in the Solomon Islands that she is really proud of. Three teenage boys had been murdered during the Civil War and their families had to bury their bodies quickly and leave the area to get away from the militants. As the militants still lived in the area, the family hadn’t been able to return. Sarah and her team were able to investigate the homicides and eventually negotiate the surrender of the five offenders. Once the village was safe, the families were able to return to their home and have a proper burial for the boys.

After her time in the Solomon Islands, Sarah moved to Hawke’s Bay in 2008 to work as a Police Deployment Manager. Currently Sarah is the Manawatu Area Commander, a role which she has been in since mid-2015. She is the first female Area Commander in Manawatu.