The mould-breakers

After Cadet Wing 26, they broke the mould.

They were the last New Zealand Police cadet wing – but they’re more proud of their many firsts.

They were the first wing to train entirely at the New Zealand Police College - before it was gifted the ‘Royal’ title - the first cadet wing to have female members; the first to have a patron from Kingitanga - Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, the first Māori Queen.

Members gathered at Police National Headquarters (PNHQ) on Friday 23 February at the start of a reunion weekend and to celebrate the 42-year service of the six of their number who are still serving as constabulary members in Police.

They were joined by retired Superintendent Maurie Cummings, College Commandant when they started in January 1982 – and father of Greg, one of the members - and two of their instructors, retired Sergeants Phil Benge and John Elworthy.

Assistant Commissioner Jill Rogers, welcoming the wing members to the award ceremony, reminded them of the words of their patron and the whakatauki she gifted them:

“Some might have thought that an honour was bestowed on this wing when I accepted the invitation but that is not so – it is I who am honoured.

“Maranga raa! Whitikingia o koutou hope, kua tiimata te pakanga - Arise! Gird your loins. The endeavour has begun…”

Jill said the wing graduated at a time which there were 5000 people on the Police payroll, compared to today’s 16,000. Through all the changes, wing members – both serving and those who had moved on - stayed in touch.

“Just observing you today, there is something special about the camaraderie you can feel when you come back together. It’s an absolute joy to see how excited you all are to see each other again”.

The six still serving as constabulary staff are Senior Constable Tony Andrews (Bay of Plenty); Senior Constable Greg Cummings (Tāmaki Makaurau); Inspector Pete McKennie, Inspector Sean McManus, Inspector Greg Phillips, and Assistant Commissioner Mike Rusbatch (all PNHQ).

Inspector Greg Phillips

Members who left Police but returned and are serving in non-constabulary roles were represented by Dave Grace, Team Leader - SAR Assistant Coordinator based at PNHQ.

Greg Phillips was unable to attend, but Assistant Commissioner Mike Pannett presented the other five with their 42-year clasps on behalf of Commissioner Andrew Coster.

Mike said acknowledging the 42 years was also “acknowledging a slice of the history of New Zealand Police”.

“This is a bit of history,” he said. “Forty-two years of service for the last cadet wing. For all those who went through the cadet wing, through the programme, through the college, this is a really significant event.

“It’s actually a bit of a milestone in the history of New Zealand Police.

“There is a lot of really amazing stuff that came out of the cadet programme… I can see from the quality of the wing and those in the room that there was a high degree of success.”

Debbie Grumball, with a photo from her days as Police's first female dog handler.

He jokingly wondered what Cadet Wing 26 did to break the mould and bring an end to the cadet programme.

“Having the privilege of working with a number of you over the years, I know what a high-quality wing it was… I know the quality of the staff that came out and worked with us in different parts of the country, and that’s something we shall remember.”

There were 40 members of the wing, including four women, most of them 18 years old, when they began their training. A year later, 36 graduated. A 37^th, who left to join the Ministry of Transport came back to Police in the 1992 merger - and became Police's first female dog handler.

Of the staff that were there to meet them in 1982, Maurie Cummings was the first to address the award ceremony.

“I’d seen a few cadet wings – this one was by far the outstanding wing because of the personalities of the people and the quality and the integrity they had,” he said.

“Outstanding people do outstanding things, and you people have all done that.”

Addressing the reunion, from left: Maurie Cummings, John Elworthy and Phil Benge.

Phil Benge and John Elworthy also addressed the event. Phil said the wing had been “quite a highlight of my career”.

“It doesn’t matter how long you were in the Police for – a short time, a long time – but the character of what these people achieved is absolutely phenomenal.

“My goodness, it was such a privilege to be part of it.”

John Elworthy said one of the highlights of the Dame Te Atairangikaahu Wing was the visit to the Queen’s marae.

“It’s great to be here, it’s great to see you all. It was a great wing…

“We enjoyed the training. I enjoyed being with all of you. I like to every so often read in the paper that something’s happened and have a bit of reflected glory that so-and-so did something and I think ‘One of my boys did that’, or ‘One of my girls’.”