Kaitāia’s Lauren Ashby has graduated as a constable, despite initially being daunted by the prospect.
Kaitāia’s Lauren Ashby has graduated as a constable, despite initially being daunted by the prospect.
When Kaitāia woman Lauren Ashby first thought about joining the police, she was initially daunted by the prospect.
But after a year pondering whether to commit, she’s now graduated from Police College and Constable Ashby is about to hit the beat in the town as one of the 51 new officers from Wing 373 from the college.
She’s also a keen big game fisher - holding at least one NZ record - and hopes that returning home will give her plenty of time for her passion - and also help her catch any criminals up to no good.
“Clicking the ‘submit application’ button for my police recruit application at a young age was daunting. I would tell everyone I was thinking about applying or I was getting fit to apply but it took me about a year of saying it until I actually did,” Ashby said.
“I was very nervous about not being taken seriously and had many underlying thoughts that I didn’t have the life experience police look for during the application process because of my age. My best advice is once you’ve hit that button, put 100 per cent into everything - your running, your study, your interview and your scope.”
She said the thought that stuck with her was: “if I’m here in this process there is someone who isn’t, who wants this even more than I do.”
New constable Lauren Ashby, from Kaitāia, at her graduation from the Police College last week
Ashby said the challenge starts when you open that browser, so be ready and have a supportive group of people who are willing to help you across the finish line.
“Rely on your friends, talk about the process with them, get excited about the little things and just take the leap. You’re doing this for you.”
Ashby has had a very interesting and rewarding time with her hobby of big game fishing.
“I have a very large passion for game fishing. I have been catching and tagging sharks since I was 13 - the largest being 210kg. I am a New Zealand Women’s record holder for the largest short bill spearfish caught in NZ and have held this title since 2019. I also held the title for the most gamefish caught by a female junior angler in 2017. I also hold the title of 1000th marlin caught for our boat,” she said.
Kaitāia woman Lauren Ashby loves big game fishing and she’s hoping her skills will help her catch plenty of criminals now that she has graduated from Police College
In attendance at last week’s graduation was Commissioner of Police Andrew Coster with members of the police executive, Nicole McKee, Minister for Courts and the Associate Minister of Justice, and patron Caroline Flora.
This wing is made up of several officers with family currently serving or who have previously served in the police including some who have policed in overseas jurisdictions.
Northland is getting four of the new officers from Wing 373.
