Sergeant Lani Campbell is the local co-ordinator for the Barwon leg of the relay and is a general duties supervisor at Moree Police Station.

She joined the force in 2001 and previously worked in Northern Region.

For the past 14 years, Sergeant Campbell has enjoyed all her years in general duties, but said there were plenty of varied and diverse roles within the NSW Police Force for anyone interested in looking outside of front line duties.

“There are hundreds of committed and successful women in the police force who have enjoyed the many opportunities that are available to them. 

Times have changed considerably since 1915 and today’s female officers are now represented right across the board, including in positions within the dog unit, rescue, mounted police, scene of crime, highway patrol and detectives,” Sergeant Campbell said. The local leg of the relay will depart from the front of the Moree Police Station about 10am today and on route, Sergeant Campbell will call in to Moree Public School and speak to Year 5 and 6 students to give them an insight on what it’s like to be a police officer.

“We’ll then make our way to Jellicoe Park, where Senior Constable Ajarna Imrie will be among those on hand to show locals around the relay supporter vehicles and roadshow,” she said.

“Tuesday’s relay is a great opportunity for the community to meet their local police and we encourage everyone to come along.”

Senior Constable Imrie is Barwon’s education development officer (EDO)  and has worked in Western Region since 2000 and based in Moree since 2005.

“The EDO is a vital role in ensuring our officers keep up with developments in legislation, safety and their career development,” she said. “Probationers straight out of the academy work closely with the EDO, not only to adjust to life as an officer, but also to learn about their local communities.”

As officers progress, Senior Constable Imrie takes them through their mandatory training, ensures they maintain proper accreditation, as well as mentoring them into various job streams.

Senior Constable Imrie is also a trained personal training instructor and assists officers with their fitness goals, which are a mandatory requirement for many of the specialist roles within the police.

Senior Constable Crystal Jones, police prosecutor, Moree

SENIOR Constable Crystal Jones graduated from the NSW Police Force Academy in 2007 as a 22-year-old “city chick”.

Having been told she would be posted to Barwon Local Area Command her first reaction was “where’s that?”

Fast forward eight years and Crystal wouldn’t have had it any other way.

While Senior Constable Jones may have done her entire time in Barwon LAC, she has worked in many roles including general duties, Target Action Group and as youth liaison officer.

Senior Constable Jones has seen a lot during her time at Barwon, including lots of sheep, lots of driving, a couple of floods, one angry bull and some great times working with young people to bring about positive change.

The floods of 2012 are probably one of the most memorable events for Senior Constable Jones and really cemented the contagious feeling you get from working in a community that wants to work together to help each other out.

In 2012 Senior Constable Jones won the opportunity to train as a prosecutor and after 15 months of work and study she was successfully appointed as North West region police prosecutor at Barwon.

Senior Constable Jones now travels within the Moree court circuit representing police at Mungindi, Boggabilla, Moree and Warialda.

Senior Constable Rebecca Peachey, plain-clothes police officer, Moree

PLAIN-CLOTHES Senior Constable Rebecca Peachey joined the NSW Police Force in 2008.

Throughout her time in the force, she has performed in general duties, intelligence, the Target Action Group and is currently a member of the Barwon Local Area Command Criminal Investigations Unit, which houses detectives and plain-clothes police officers investigating serious crime.

In 2013, Senior Constable Peachey became the first female officer in the NSW Police Force to successfully train as a trail bike operative.

Senior Constable Peachey had been introduced to motorbikes at a young age, mustering cattle on the family farm, and saw it as a great opportunity to add another skill to her policing career.

While she’s been around bikes for a long time, Senior Constable Peachey said she wasn’t prepared for what the course threw at her.

“The trail bike course was hard, but great fun, too. I ached every night after what they put us through,” she said.

“The trail bike course is completely different to riding bikes on the roads and paddocks around here.

“They train you to be able to ride in every imaginable situation and do things I didn’t know you could do.”

Trail bikes are just one of the special resources available to LAC’s and can be used for a variety of situations, including enforcement operations, missing persons or property searches, as well as rural crime investigations.

Constable Rachel Edgar Moore, Barwon Youth Liaison Officer, Boggabilla

CONSTABLE Rachel Edgar Moore started her career in the NSW Police Force in 2011 at Granville, part of the Rosehill Local Area Command.

After completing her first posting in Sydney, the opportunity arose to apply for the newly-listed youth liaison officer at Boggabilla and it couldn’t have been a more perfect fit.

Constable Edgar Moore arrived at Boggabilla in November 2014, and quickly teamed up with Aboriginal community liaison officer Willie Middleton to set about getting involved in as many activities as possible within the local community.

The opportunities available to Constable Edgar Moore are a long way from what was on offer when her late Aunty Nancy joined the force.

In those days female officers wore only skirts and were not permitted to wear appointments like the men did.

The constable’s late aunt conducted traffic duties and gave talks to schools.

While there is some similarity to Constable Edgar Moore’s current position, her school visits are by choice and are only a small part of the Boggabilla officer’s duties.

“I look up to her. Policing is a hard career and I’m proud that she was able to join the police and serve in the time period she did,” she said.

“The work they did back then has enabled us all to have the careers we have chosen today.”

It might sound a bit cliched, but Constable Edgar Moore said she joined the police to help the community.

Moving to the country has meant some big changes, and while being the only female on staff at Boggabilla is different, the biggest challenge is the distance and where your closest back-up is.

But she maintains there is an upside. The new role as YLO enables her to spend a lot of time with kids. “They’re generally happy, have smiles on their faces and I definitely like this part of my job,” she said. “I like the idea of trying to divert young people from committing crime and teaching them as much as I can about the law.

“Being a cop means I have friends all over the state and the common factor between us is being police officers. “I am proud to call myself a police officer, and I’m proud to call all of my colleagues my friends. This job brings camaraderie, which is especially important in the country, as my colleagues and I are a fair distance apart.”

After six months in the Boggabilla job, Constable Edgar Moore said she’s enjoying the country life and is looking forward to what Barwon will add to her “highlight reel”.