It was 40 years ago when Lynda Perry realised she wanted to join the police. But she was turned away because she didn’t meet the height requirements.
She tried again 10 years later in 1991, after she found out the requirement had been dropped. Perry made it through the initial stages, but failed the maths part. With a young child, however, she chose not to continue.
“I regretted it almost every day – it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do," she said.
"Back then, the reasons were a little different – I wanted to be a traffic cop on a motorbike – but I never lost the desire to join.
“I got to the point where it almost consumed me, I wanted this so badly.”
It was third time lucky for Perry. Two years ago, she tried again after she heard a talk by another constable who was in her early 50s when she joined.
Now 57, she’s become the oldest person to graduate from The Royal New Zealand Police College since it opened in 1981.
While she’d lived in Papamoa for the past seven years and wanted to work in the Tauranga area at first, Perry said she wasn’t willing to wait any longer than she needed to achieve her dream.
“At my age you don’t have the luxury of waiting. My kids have grown up so when the option of Tokoroa came up, we thought, let’s do it.
“When I was young the appeal was around the excitement of the job, how every day is different. That still applies but now I really wanted to join because I think I have something to offer.”
Perry is especially interested in working in family harm.
Tokoroa Area Response Manager Senior Sergeant Murray Hamilton said Perry had been a great addition to the team.
“It’s this sort of diversity that improves our service to the public.”
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