“It was a sacrifice on both sides, and it paid off,” Jade said.
In November this year it will be two years since 47 new constables graduated from the Mike Bush 360 wing.
The Herald caught up with Jade to find out how it was going for her on the Gisborne streets as she nears the end of her probationary period as a front-line public safety team (PST) officer.
“There were a lot of different reasons I chose policing as a career,” she said.
“I knew some women who were in the police. Senior Sergeant Rebecca Pepere and Detective Senior Sergeant Tina Smallman were just two who influenced me at that time.
“We’d met through our hockey club (GMC), and they essentially recruited me.”
Constable Stafford said both Rebecca and Tina guided her and motivated her to join.
“They’re strong, amazing women who I truly look up to.
“So, to have women like that encourage me makes me extremely grateful.”
But Jade was also motivated by all the good things she felt she could bring to the job.
“A long time ago, in my teenage years, a close friend of mine was assaulted and police dealt with the situation, which was great.
“But I felt my friend wasn’t supported enough during her court process, so I thought that if that were me, I’d do that differently.
“I would try to awhi that person a lot more.
“I also had my own not-so-great experience with police when I was in my early 20s,” Constable Stafford said.
“Again, I thought this officer had a chance to change my outcome and blew it. I never want someone to experience something like that.”
Jade admits that due to these experiences she wanted to do things differently, change things. She wanted better outcomes for people and so she began to file her application. She holds a Certificate of Health and Fitness from the Eastern Institute of Technology, so it’s no surprise the physical part of the process was not hard for her.
“I loved fitness already and I was already doing quite a bit of sports and training hard prior to the physical appraisal test (PAT), so I actually did not train much differently for the testing,” she said.
The PAT test involves running, push-ups, vertical jump, and a grip strength test.
“I just put 100 percent into my run because I knew I definitely did not want to do that run test any more than I had to,” she laughs.
Thankfully, the hard work paid off.
“I have a lovely partner and we have a baby boy together who will be three in July, and I’m a step-mama as well to two teenagers who live mainly with their mamas.”
“I’m fortunate I have both my parents living in Gisborne who helped immensely when I was at college, because my baby had just turned one when I started my training at the police college.”
Her partner held the fort as well as working full time and her parents helped with babysitting and looking after the whare.
“Some close friends would also do kai drop-offs and check-ups when they could.
“I’m blessed with the village I have, and it made a huge difference while I was at training knowing that my whānau had that support.”
Jade started on the streets of Gisborne in late November 2022, just before the busy holiday season.
She was the only one in her wing to be deployed to Eastern District.
She has completed all her on-duty training and may even attain her permanent appointment before it’s due.
Gisborne being a smaller station she has experienced a variety of police work, and much of it ticked all the boxes required to get certified, she said.
“I really do love that every day is different.
“Every day there is something new and the team that you build, the friendships you make during these days are the best.
“Knowing you’re going into every single job with your team that has your back, that’s what I love about policing.”
Recently she dealt with an incident where someone had been assaulted.
“This person only wanted to deal with me.
“They refused to talk to any other staff members and said, since they had a good rapport with me, they only wanted to speak and keep in contact with me regarding it all.
“I had been praised for the empathy I showed to them, making a difference for them, showing respect, and professionalism.”
Jade said she felt that she was becoming that cop who did it differently.
“I did better and offered a better experience than my friend and I got earlier in life — and that makes me proud.
“I would say to anyone thinking of joining — you can do it!
“Yes, it’s hard. Yes, it is going to be a roller coaster. But it is so worth it.
A lot of women stop following their dreams because of their babies, but I reckon that’s the exact reason you need to go and fulfil your dreams — do it for them.”
Jade said being at the police college away from her partner and their baby made her give 100 percent to all the training at college.
“I gave it everything as I did not want to go through all of that for nothing.
“My whānau sacrificed a lot for me.
“My advice is, find your “village” to help and support you. With a village, you can do it.”
