New recruit – From Ohai to the thin blue line
There isn’t an emergency service that Natalie Tautari hasn’t worked with.
Born in the small coalmining town of Ohai, in Southland, Tautari embraced the sense of community when still young.
“My involvement in the Ohai fire brigade, where my late father Jimmy Molloy was a gold star life member, was a huge part of my childhood and influenced the beginning of my love for emergency services”, she said.
Now, Tautari is one of the 51 police graduates of Wing 373, making their way into their respective districts to start life as a police officer.
Tautari had always wanted to be a police officer, even when she was 5 years old.
“The passion has always been there, but the timing was never quite right. My vision is to bring it all together, driven by a desire to give back and with my own insight from dark places, I stand in my truth to role model everything I hope for others.”
Tautari started working in emergency services in 2010 as a volunteer firefighter and co-responder medic for the Ohai volunteer fire brigade and St John Ambulance in Winton.
“I’ve been a crew member in the Alliance Lorneville emergency response team, where I worked night shift for six years”, she said.
She was trained in various rescue disciplines, from firefighting to heights, and competed in rescue squad competitions in 2012 with two wins in medical, she said.
“I was a casual medic for Pro+Med in Southland and the Central Otago Lakes Districts.”
In her new life, Tautari wants to remind people that “the growth, light and hope on the other side is boundless”.
“I see a meaningful purpose for me in the role of a police officer and I’m looking forward to this new career.”
Tautari is one of four new police graduates from the Southern region.
At Wing 373’s graduation, police commissioner Andrew Coster, members of the police executive, Courts Minister and Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee were present, along with patron Caroline Flora, were in attendance.
Chief censor kairāhui whakaaturanga poumatua Flora said “every recruit’s choice to join New Zealand Police is a testament to their character and commitment to a brighter future”.
“We, your fellow public servants, and the communities you serve, are proud of you.”
In 2022, Southern area commander Mike Bowman’s daughter Katie graduated from the police academy from Wing 365, joining her father in the force.
He had been with the police force for 37 years.
“The best thing [about the job] is the people I work with, including my daughter, who gives me significant teasing, not only at home but now at work,” Bowman said in July 2023.