Police and people honoured
She heard a woman’s screams for help and went to her aid.
If Yvonne McClelland had not acted to help her, the police would not have caught, arrested and imprisoned the man who fled the scene after attempting to carry out a sexual assault last year.
McClelland, along with two other who women who helped prevent suicide attempts in the past year in Invercargill, were awarded New Zealand Police District Commander commendations at a Southland Area Police Award ceremony held at the Invercargill Workingmen’s Club yesterday.
The police commended McClelland for her bravery.
While the police put themselves on the line every day because it was their job, it was important to acknowledge members of the community who put themselves in potential danger and acted selflessly to help others, Southland acting area commander Inspector Mike Bowman said.
He also paid tribute to the families of police, many of whom accompanied officers receiving awards. ‘‘Policing is a difficult role, the stresses and risks are beyond what normal people face and the only reason that we can continue to do this through the challenging times is the support our our family and friends.’’
Southern district commander Superintendent Paul Basham, who was on hand to give out 16 awards to Southland police officers for long service and commendation, said team work was never as important for a police officer than it was in today’s changing world.
The police metaphor, ‘‘Stand at the stern of the waka and feel the spray of the future biting at your face’’, was never more apt, he said.
‘‘You have to move the waka forward as a team, and some of the recipients have been moving that waka forward for a long time.’’
The long service and and good conduct medal were first instituted in 1876 to formalise the establishment of a police force in New Zealand, and is now the oldest service medal in the Commonwealth.
The 14-year recipients were: Lindsay Peacock, Detective Timothy Cook and Sergeant Hayden McNaught.
The 21-year clasp recipients were: Senior constables Craig Colyer, Adam Roberts and Jordan Edwards, Detective Matt Wyatt, Sergeant Deon McNaught and Senior Sergeant Peter Graham; 35-year clasp recipient Senior Constable David Loader.
Certificate of service recipient: Senior Constable Paul Ware.
Area commanders commendation: Senior Constables Paula Owen, Constable Nicky Herbert, Senior constables Marcus McMahon and Graham Parsons and Detective Chris Lucy.
I’ll be the first to admit it: I can be pretty terrible at sharing, at times. If we’re all being honest with ourselves, I think we all feel a little bit like this sometimes.
I suppose it’s only natural to protect and preserve what’s ours, but here’s the thing: sharing also needs to be a natural extension of who we are.
If you work hard towards something, it’s completely fair to indulge and enjoy the fruits of your labour – say you’d been saving up for a new tablet.
You’re not going to come off any worse if you let your partner/ sibling/friend/whoever borrow the tablet to check their emails.
The phrase ‘‘sharing is caring’’ might be used in jest most of the time (usually by me), but the message is fair. To share is to be kind.
I’ve found in life I harbour more memories of the times where I should have shared what I had, rather than not, and those aren’t great memories to have.
In one of my more jerk moves as a petulant child, I was once asked by a primary school teacher if I owned a pencil sharpener. I did.
She asked if a fellow pupil could use it. I said no.
She told me to stop being ridiculous and let the pupil borrow the pencil sharpener. Quite right, too. It’s been more than 15 years since that interlude and I still feel guilty about it.
There was no possible scenario where sharing my pencil sharpener would have cost me in any way. If I’d been less possessive about something so trivial, I wouldn’t have been told off in front
‘‘I’ve found in life I harbour more memories of the times where I should have shared what I had, rather than not, and those aren’t great memories to have.’’
of the entire class for essentially being the most selfish version of myself.
Thank the Lord my parents saw fit to add another child to the family, because I’d hate to think what a terrible snot of a person I might have become should my parents’ attention have solely been on me.
The more we share in what we already have, the more we grow as a person, which generally just makes us all better people. I don’t know about you but I much prefer interacting with people who have a wider world view than those who live in their own bubble.
We live in a world of everexpanding excess: cars, clothes, material things, plastic. Perhaps instead of creating excess ‘‘things’’, we could create excess generosity through sharing.
I remember once being approached on the street as a university student by a man in a wheelchair who was in need of $20 to pay for a taxi to urgently get across town. The poor man looked like he was about to have a heart attack at the rate he’d been wheeling himself along.
As I handed him the money, he shook my hand and had tears in his eyes. Perhaps he’d been turned down by a few people already. I was a poor student, but he clearly needed the $20 more than I did.
Even if I had just been massively conned by someone who was really good at faking a desperate situation, he still needed that small green bill more than me if he was willing to go to that length to fabricate a story.
And if the story was true, well then he was absolutely welldeserving.
My point is, relinquishing our grip on our ‘‘things’’ means the power they have over us lessened.
To share what we have is to share life with others and become rich in experience and spirit.
Share your Netflix account, even if your dad continues to watch things on your profile instead of his own, messing up your recommendations …
So be kind, and share generously.
Except for drink bottles and lollipops – don’t share those.