"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."
After her initial attempt to join in 1981, Perry tried again 10 years later when she discovered the height requirements had been dropped.
She made it through the initial stages but failed on the maths part. She could have potentially gone back but, with a 2-year-old child, she didn't.
"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."
Perry was spurred into action two years ago when she heard a talk by a constable from another district who was in her early 50s when she joined. "I applied that day."
She didn't tell her family initially, wanting to make sure she had a good chance before sharing with them what she'd done.
"They weren't too surprised. I've banged on about it for as long as the kids have been alive. For them, it's been more a question of, 'Why did you wait so long?'"
Her advice to others in a similar situation was to "just go for it".
"On the whole, people have been really accepting of it."
Tokoroa area response manager Senior Sergeant Murray Hamilton said Perry had been a great addition to the team.
"She brings a mature presence with worldly experience to our station. It's this sort of diversity that improves our service to the public."
Since starting training, Perry has developed a strong interest in family harm and is also interested in getting into Disaster Victim Identification or photography.
But for now, she's not taking a single day for granted after finally beginning the career she's always wanted.
