Police partnership sets rangatahi on positive career path

A fully packed NZ Police recruitment information seminar at Partners Porirua gave young people the chance to get a better understanding on what it’s like to be a Police recruit and to quiz officers on their different career paths.

The seminar, held during July 2024, was aimed at those aged 16-24 and was designed to break down barriers to joining the Police.

Partners Porirua Workforce Development Manager, Jacqui Edwards, says this was a GREAT opportunity to see NZ Police in an encouraging and positive way.

“This session gave our young people a chance to find out about the people behind the uniform, to hear the real experiences from recruits and from those on the front line. They got to see the diversity of those working in the Police… they were from different ethnicities and ages.”

It was also an opportunity to walk through the recruitment process and find out what’s involved. Jacqui says that some of the Police attending shared their stories of applying multiple times and overcoming personal challenges to be accepted as a recruit.

“The session on a day-in-the-life” of Police personnel was really insightful. We had current Police staff from the dive team, a dog handler, someone form the Armed Offenders Squad and we also had a couple of civilian staff talking about their “administrative – customer facing” roles.  One of those officers had grown up in Cannons Creek and talked about his experience and belief that anyone can achieve anything if they work hard for it.”

Ruby Sei, Partners Porirua Communications and Projects Assistant, says the Q&A session attracted lots of thoughtful questions from attendees.

“They were interested in whether or not mental health issues were a barrier to joining and what support was available for those who need support. They were all really reassured to hear that once a recruit is accepted the aim is to support them to succeed. Our rangatahi were blown away by the honesty and openness of the answers to questions.”

A tour of the Police College was held the following week for hopeful future recruits and Police have offered ‘ride-alongs’ for interested young people to get a taste of what being a Police officer is really like.

Jacqui says the partnership with Police is extremely valuable for Partners Porirua. “We’ll continue to work together to help support our young people, after all we have a common goal and that’s providing employment for young people and contributing to creating safer communities.”