Ms Phillips went to Wanganui High School and was coached in athletics by Alec McNab.
She once competed in 11 events in one day at the inter-city teams athletics, and said she still holds the record for the most points ever scored there.
She went on to win a bronze medal for high jump in the 1990 Commonwealth Games, in Auckland. She joined the police in the same year.
The tall young woman returned to Wanganui after her marriage in 2001, and lived with her husband, Laurence Patterson, at Mangamahu for nearly nine years. She met up with Mr McNab again then, helping him coach Young Olympians at their camps during the 2000s.
Working in Wanganui she was involved in road policing, was a dog handler and sectional sergeant and was also part of Intel, the force's think tank. A keen rider, Ms Phillips and others rode police horses in Christmas parades and Anzac Day dawn services.
She also worked as a police officer in Palmerston North, and moved to Wellington on being promoted to inspector.
By 2012 she was area commander for the Whangarei-Kaipara area in Northland. She's now based in Auckland as the senior professional standards manager for the upper North Island.
She said that job was about leading police to be safe and think ahead or, put simply, to "do the right thing".
Some aspects of policing are so much fun she still can't believe she gets paid to do it. Getting helicoptered into the bush as a dog handler to track a missing person is one example of the sort of work she loves.
Her advice to other women who want to join the police, is to get some experience first.
"As a cop, you have the ability to make a real difference to people's lives every day. It's something you have to really want to do. It's not a job you just have a go at."
