Whangarei-born Police Detective Cushla O'Shea helped convict 13 people for kidnapping 400 others and burning 100 properties in the Solomon Islands.
It was just one of many achievements in her 15 year police career, but Ms O'Shea reckons the Queen's Service Medal she received in the Queen's Birthday Honours List is
as much a credit to her colleagues as herself.
Ms O'Shea went to school at Tauraroa Area School and then Pompallier College before graduating from Waikato University and joining the force 15 years ago. She has since been posted to Taupo, Takapuna and Auckland.
But Ms O'Shea said her biggest satisfaction has been her work in the Solomons, where she has served three times since 2003.
In 2006 she investigated members of the Guadalcanal Liberation Front.
Thirteen members of the front were prosecuted for kidnapping more than 400 people and the arson of more than 100 properties during the rioting in Honiara that followed the Solomon's 2006 general election. Ms O'Shea got convictions for all 13.
"That was huge for me," shesaid.
Her efforts there earned her a Police Bronze Merit Award and now the QSM.
She also worked on the RSA murders. William Bell killed three people at the Mt Wellington-Panmure RSA in December 2001.
"I feel really quite humbled to have got (the QSM). There's a lot of other police officers out there that work hard that don't always get the recognition they deserve," Ms O'Shea said.
"Police officers and their families make incredible sacrifices - I was away for two years - and this is as much for my colleagues as myself.
"The thing about working in the police is that every day is exciting and different and every day brings its own challenges. It's great."
Ms O'Shea will be shortly leaving her role as a trainer for the Auckland criminal investigation branch to become a recruit instructor at the Police College in Porirua.
Ms O'Shea is the daughter of ex-North Auckland Rugby selector/coach Dannie O'Shea and Bethley O'Shea, who still farm at Maungakaramea.
• Ms O'Shea was missed out of Monday's honours coverage as the information that came with the awards identified her as from Auckland.
