Mark | Kawakawa Bay

“I’ve recently just moved to my new location in Kawakawa Bay, and I just felt lucky and blessed to be able to live there with my family.

I’ve been in the Police coming on 29 years. Born in Whanganui but brought up in the King Country, in a place called Te Kuiti. I moved there to Wellington in the private sector, but had a calling I guess and joined the Police when I was 29, and now moving onto here. I have moved up through the ranks, and both Criminal Investigation branch, plus the General Duties branch, to be a leader in the Police and the community.

I work in Manurewa and, and currently Acting Area Commander here. Last night I attended a function for Victim Support here, which is a volunteer group that use volunteers to talk to victims, and it was their prize giving end of year dinner. I was thankful for the people that are in the community, that are prepared to give up their time, and are really passionate about what they do to help people, using their own time with no reward to help other people. I’m thankful that there are people in the community that do that.

Last night at the awards ceremony there we had presentation by a dance troop of Samoan people, it was just so inspiring and so passionate. It just reminds you that the majority of our community is good and out there doing the best for New Zealand, and sadly the negative stuff gets portrayed in the media too much, and just simple good positive stories like that just don’t get the feedback that’s required. Manurewa like anywhere else has its challenges, but for the majority of people they’re out there striving to do their best for their community and to make the place a better place to live for New Zealand.

The role of the Police is to be the community, because we police with the consent of the community. That’s what our role is, we’re here to prevent crime and try and make New Zealand the best place to live. The passion that people have for their own locality. I’ve moved here recently to police it, and the very first thing I came across is that passion of people who love their community.”

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