I think NZ Police are embracing diversity and the more diverse we can get and more reflective of our community, the better.
Waikato’s new road policing boss was stuck in morning traffic.
When she walked into the make-do interview room, late, the first thing she wanted to know was what the story would be about – the job, or her gender?
Newly appointed Waikato road policing manager, Inspector Freda Grace doesn’t like the ‘‘chick’’ in power angle. She likes catchy phrases though. After 30 minutes chatting about her focus on road safety, her steep learning curve and the toll our roads take, she used a request for further comment to release her own creation to the world. ‘‘Road safety is no accident.’’ Police are experts in short, pithy phrases conjured up in the hope that they’ll stick in people’s minds.
Grace likened hers to ‘‘road safety – it’s everybody’s responsibility’’ and ‘‘safer communities together’’, yet hers, formulated with help from her nephew, was layered, true and thought provoking. Slogans aside, being at the top of the region’s road police in 2014 is a tough proposition because 2013 is a hard act to follow.
Waikato has always had a notorious reputation for road fatalities but the number of people killed in road smashes was halved to 22 last year. Grace knows it will be challenging. ‘‘To achieve another 50 per cent reduction would be amazing,’’ she said. ‘‘Clearly our goal is to keep ensuring people are able to have safe journeys – less serious harm, less fatals is always good.’’
Grace was at a turning point before applying for the road policing manager job. It was retirement – or change.
There has been plenty over the years. She joined the police at 19 and has never worked on the roads before, despite clocking up 30 years in various roles.
She was once an interior designer in Auckland and clearly remembers the moment her life changed direction.
‘‘We had to deliver a business thing to a large building society and we missed the job,’’ she says. ‘‘I was very irritated and rather than drive back to work I walked. As I walked back I passed a couple of young cops walking on the beat and I thought that would have been so much better than being stuck in a shop all day. Six months later I applied and six months later there I was.’’
It was 1984, her first year as a constable in Hamilton. In 1985 she went Inspector Freda Grace Waikato road policing manager rural, relieving at various stations. Later she was Nawton’s first community constable, before being promoted to to sergeant in Counties Manukau. She has since worked in a variety of roles and had two children.
In 2012, she was recognised as the top Waikato Police performer, being awarded the Gallagher Trophy while working as Hamilton’s tactical coordinator. She lay all the credit for that on her staff. And when asked what it takes for a woman to rise through the ranks of the men who dominate the police department, her answer is equally humble.
‘‘I’m not a high flyer, clearly I’m not, otherwise I would have been promoted a long time ago.’’
She says humour, ‘‘a bit’’ of tenacity and consistency have probably served her well.
Communications manager Andrew McAlley, who was sitting in on the interview, sheds more light.
‘‘I can testify, as much as it pains me, that the mother of the nation had dozens of people coming to her desk congratulating her from all sides of the police . . . To get the police excellence award, there are some high performing cops that have got that.’’
There’s a diplomatic head on Grace’s shoulders. Consider her answer to a ‘‘chick’’ question about whether she thinks there are enough woman in senior roles within the police force.
After a pause, she says: ‘‘I think NZ Police are embracing diversity and the more diverse we can get and more
New Waikato road policing manager, Inspector Freda Grace, will bring a sense of humour and a safety focus to her new role. Photo: Chris Hillock/Fairfax NZ reflective of our community, the better. It’s still about making sure you have the right people in the right place.’’
Time will tell whether her new place is the right one.
Her predecessor, former long-time road policing manager turned councillor, Leo Tooman has a memory cataloguing all the macabre moments that have emerged on Waikato roads.
Now they’re Grace’s responsibility and giving road safety a high profile is one way she hopes to cut down on fatal and serious injury crashes.
‘‘I think we’ve got an important part to play in terms of educating people about how to use our roads safely,’’ she said. ‘‘There’s a [slogan] that says road safety is everybody’s responsibility, and it absolutely is everybody’s responsibility. Everybody in a car every day has a responsibility to use the road safely.’’