Police Officers Start Careers In Mackay

Five new police officers were welcomed to Mackay last week, beginning their careers as First Year Constables (FYCs) with the Queensland Police Service (QPS).

The cohort is part of 107 recent graduates who have been deployed to stations across the state.

The new officers were welcomed to the district with an orientation on Thursday, October 13 facilitated by Mackay Police District Officer Superintendent Graeme Paine before heading out to their stations in the following days.

“This is such an exciting moment for these officers as they now begin their careers in the Queensland Police Service,” Supt Paine said.

“Five officers is a significant increase for the area.

“Regardless of whether there’s been an increase or decrease in crime, we’re going to see an increase in police numbers, and, for us, that’s really important because it increases our capacity to actually be proactive.”

Three of the FYCs will start their career at Mackay Station and the other two at Mackay Northern Beaches Station.

The FYCs spent the past six months at the academy, now undertaking a further 12 months of station-based training.

Their training includes knowledge of laws, policy and procedure as well as practical training pertaining to police activities they’re likely to encounter.

“They’ve got sufficient experience and sufficient knowledge and learning to be able to apply their police powers, but they’ll also do that in a way which is supervised under the guidance of an experienced officer,” said Supt Paine.

Constable Zach Sheppard has previously served in the military and said transitioning into QPS was easy.

“I definitely have been interested in serving the community or the country since surf lifesaving, I did about 10 years in surf lifesaving,” he said.

Cst Sheppard said the six months of academy training made him excited to take on his role in the community.

“They are very thorough with their training but also it’s good to get out of the academy and see what the job has to offer,” he said.

Constable Nathan Giles has a background in psychology and social work and said theoretical and practical training prepared them well.

“It’s obviously a fairly challenging job but the theory side of it is really quite essential to learning our powers and our responsibilities,” he said.

Cst Giles said a key trait required to become a police officer is resilience.

“It’s been quite difficult over the last six months with everything that we’ve been learning and adjusting to the differences in everyday education,” he said.

Supt Paine said QPS is currently in a period of recruiting.

“It’s a fantastic job, it’s a fantastic group of people,” he said.

“There’s an incredibly wide range of roles that you can go into throughout your career.”

If you’re interested in a career in policing, visit PoliceRecruit.com.au.

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