As such, she says, she will be giving Police employees a voice on the board as well as continuing to encourage non-constabulary staff to become part of the association.

Tina is a training facilitator at North Comms. She has been with Police since 1988 and brings a breadth of knowledge and experience from having taken on a variety of roles, starting as an eager 18 year old at the Takapuna Police Station.

There, over the next decade, she was a shift watch house assistant and day watch house officer. She was involved in the data entry of police complaints, took reports from victims, witnesses and complainants, attended the public counter and delivered training to staff.

In 1999, she took that experience to the Police College as a computer instructor, teaching recruits about Police computer applications, radio procedures, codes, forms and intelligence applications.

In 2002, Tina joined North Comms as an emergency communicator, progressing to her current role, which involves developing and delivering theoretical and practical instruction to new and existing comms staff.

During her Police career she has been an active member of the association, including as an office holder and conference delegate, having joined her local committee as soon as Police employees became eligible to become members of the association in 1991.

She’s thrilled to be able to join the board and says it’s a great move on the part of the association to have created such a position.

“There’s sometimes a feeling among Police employees that police officers come before non-sworn staff. Although the organisation is very supportive of individuals, there is a perception that the focus has always been on the uniform staff,” she says.

“Some people see it as a ‘them and us’ situation, though I don’t see it that way. Because I’ve been around for a while, I know how the organisation works and that we need each other to do our jobs.”

However, Tina says there are many issues that have particular relevance to Police employees – for example, pay equity, restructures, the role of authorised officers and access to NIA.

“I want to give Police employees a voice,” she says, adding that when the Police Association survey was being discussed at conference last year, the results all seemed to be about police officers, even though many non-sworn had taken part.

“I always encourage non-sworn to join the association. I explain to comms staff that they are frontline. They are the first point of contact and they get the full impact of a situation, even before police officers arrive.

“It’s very important for those staff to be represented by an organisation that really understands the work they do.”

Another important aspect of belonging to the association is the pay round, she says. “The Police Association negotiates for all Police staff.”

Tina is married and has two boys aged 10 and 13 and three dogs, all of which keep her busy outside of work. She has also been a registered marriage celebrant since 2017.

The Police employee director position is for a two-year term.