Sergeant retires from force
A DEDICATED police sergeant who has spent 30 years serving in Cardiff is celebrating her retirement – at the age of 49.
Karen McNeil joined South Wales Police when she was just 19.
In her 30 years on the job, she has worked within the force’s Major Crime Team, been awarded a long service medal and even appeared alongside Rhod Gilbert in his Work Experience TV series.
Karen, originally from Glasgow, moved to Cardiff with her family when she was 18 after her father gained a promotion.
She joined South Wales Police a year later on February 8, 1988, realising an ambition she had held since becoming a teenager.
“I had wanted to join the police since attending a careers exhibition as a 14 or 15 years old,” she said.
“I’d grown up living next door to a policeman, funnily enough, but I always liked the idea of the uniform, and being someone who was identifiable in the community as a person who would offer help.”
She spent the majority of her career serving in Canton, Ely, Fairwater and Whitchurch.
In 2002, she spent six years working within the Major Crime Team, before returning to uniform in 2008.
In 2010, she was promoted to sergeant and has served for the past four years as the community safety sergeant based in Cardiff Bay.
Karen has made a few media appearances in her time with South Wales Police.
In 1992 she appeared in the Echo promoting the force’s reintroduction of blue lamps outside their stations, and she also appeared in the third series of Rhod Gilbert’s Work Experience.
She said: “I had to be professional the whole time while he obviously was being the comedian. I never felt so famous – or compromised – in my life as I did patrolling the city centre with him, in uniform, on an international match day. He was recognised everywhere!”
Karen completed her final shift with South Wales Police on February 28.
Colleagues presented her with gifts, a framed force crest and a luxury hamper.
“The people are what make the job great,” she said. “It’s true to say not everyone could do our job, but those who do are definitely special people.”