Jasleen returns to Te Puke as trailblazing police constable

Jasleen is the only female police officer with Indian heritage in the Western Bay of Plenty. Photo / Stuart Whitaker

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As the only female police officer of Indian heritage in the Western Bay of Plenty, Jasleen is an important link between the force and the Te Puke community.

Jasleen, who asked for her last name not to be used, grew up in Te Puke after her family moved to New Zealand in 2010. She has returned home as a police constable after gaining police experience in Tauranga and Papamoa.

From a Sikh family, Jasleen wanted a career that was somehow related to law, and her father had always wanted one of his daughters to be in the police force.

“I guess it was something he wanted to do but wasn’t able to with all his responsibilities – so I looked into it and it seemed like something I wanted to do,” she said.

Workplace variety

One of the attractions was the idea that no two days of police work were the same.

“It’s [also] something different. There are not a lot of female Indians in the job and there are a lot of things behind that – the thinking in our community that girls are not as strong as boys, or they may not be able to handle situations as men can, but my mum and dad always taught me that there’s nothing that I cannot do that a guy can do, so I thought ‘yes’, let’s do this.”

After leaving Te Puke High School, Jasleen did a pre-police course.

“I had a few setbacks with Covid and a few injuries but eventually made it and went through Police College which was a good experience. It was hard to be away from home, but I had the support of my mum and dad and sister.”

More to offer

Jasleen quickly realised the impact she could have as a police officer.

“I realised I had way more to offer than I thought, just by being an Indian female, just going to jobs where there were Indian females who were afraid just to talk to males or non-Indian officers.”

She found people opened up to her, and that sometimes resulted in action being taken that might not otherwise have been possible.

“Just being an Indian female and being there, being able to talk to them in their native language is really helpful.”

Hometown

Her parents were both born in India and the family lived in Italy for a decade before moving to New Zealand and Te Puke.

“I love this town, so when I saw the opportunity to come here, I jumped at it.

”As well as being home, it offered the chance for a different type of policing than she had previously experienced.

“It was good experience [working in Tauranga], but this is different – out here it’s a different community and there were things lacking in my policing experience such as rural work.”

Jasleen recognised the potential challenges of working as a police officer in the community where she lived.

“But I’ve got to manage it – I may know this person, or this person might be my neighbour.”

Jasleen spoke both Punjabi and Hindi and still had a little Italian. She believed her background, culture and being multilingual would help her communication with the people she comes into contact with through work, and give her colleagues perspective by being able to explain Indian culture and religion.

“It’s good to have me here where I can say this is why this is happening, or this is what’s causing the issue.”

She hoped to inspire other females with Indian heritage to follow in her footsteps.

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Te Puke Police Sergeant Mike Owen has welcomed Jasleen to the station.

“She brings with her a good skill set of all-around knowledge and is really looking forward to her becoming part of the team here and the community.”