Wagga Police Force welcomes fresh faces to the beat

Wagga Police has welcomed four new recruits: Constables Andrew Griffiths, Taylah Efsthehiou, Hayden Morrison and Mourish Condie have been stationed in the city to serve as Wagga’s first-response police.

The recruits are Probationary Constables, having graduated from the NSW Police Academy in Goulburn last Friday alongside 150 classmates.

They have been stationed in Wagga for their first year of on-the-job policing to perform general duties and attending calls from the Wagga public.

Superintendent Andrew Spliet explained that the station regularly requested placement of probationary officers to service the needs of the Wagga community, and added he was more than pleased with the calibre of the four new recruits.

“We will allocate them where we need the manpower to reach specific goals, so it’s great to have another four officers here to help,” Superintendent Spliet said.

“Their general duties will range from domestic violence callouts and assaults, to high-visibility policing and property crime and so forth.”

Probationary Constable Condie is looking forward to the country change.

“It’s more in line with what I’m used to – it’s going to feel a bit more homely than Sydney,” the Canberra local said.

The group spent 16 weeks working through theory online, before starting at Goulburn for a further 16 weeks.

“Goulburn was a mixture of lectures, practical scenarios and weapons training – much more engaging. There’s a lot of work, a lot of time away from family, and a lot of assessments and exams,” Constable Condie said.

The group is excited about the opportunities Wagga presents – learning to be self-sufficient, a wider variety of work, and gaining more field experience.

The probationary officers will continue their studies online, while working part-time at the Wagga station, for a further 42 weeks until they are eligible to become a confirmed Constable of Police.

Superintendent Spliet said that when new officers transferred in, they usually had a tenure of about three years.

“We’re starting to see a real trend with officers placed in Wagga – those officers will stay on after those three years, which is great. It’s an excellent place for them to learn and live,” said the Superintendent, who himself returned to Wagga late last year after a stint at the Barrier Police District in the northwest of the state.

“It’s also great to have Inspector Lee Gray now officially a part of senior management.”

Inspector Gray was recently officially appointed to an OIC role (Officer In Charge) and will oversee Wagga’s sergeants and newest constables in the general duties teams.

After 17 years of service, Inspector Gray declared himself “really excited about the new role and the great team that I’ve got to support me”.

Inspector Gray and his teams will respond to the general duties calls, and any other public incident reports and complaints.

“I’d really like to push the general duties focus towards reducing the rates of domestic violence across town and also drive down property crime – I think they’re the two main issues affecting Wagga at the moment,” he said.

“I’ve always wanted to be a police officer so I could help people. That’s why a lot of us originally joined and I’ve still got that desire to make sure I can help the community any way I can.”

The Inspector also noted he could already see that same passion in his new officers on day one.

Constable Condie is excited to get going, but has “absolutely no idea what to expect”.

“We have to get a handle on the basics of general duties before looking to pursue anything specific that we’re passionate about,” the new graduate said.

“My mind is going a million miles an hour trying to think of all the possibilities, but I guess we just won’t know what we’re up for until we walk out that door today.”