Who is Mandeep Kaur? Know first female Indian-born officer in New Zealand Police

Mandeep Kaur, who is New Zealand’s first Indian-born female police officer, was promoted to senior sergeant rank in the month of March. Mandeep was presented with her new badge by New Zealand police commissioner Andrea Coster at a ceremony in Wellington. According to a local NZ media outlet, the 52-year-old started her career 17 years back when she joined in 2004 and since then there has been no looking back for her as she became a source of inspiration for several Indians. 

According to the official New Zealand Police website, “Mandeep was the first female Indian-born officer in the New Zealand Police. Her journey to become a police officer came with many personal and cultural barriers, which she faced while raising her two children on her own. However, she is proud to have overcome these challenges to be where she is today”. 

Who is Mandeep Kaur?

Mandeep came to New Zealand as an immigrant. She was born and brought up in the Punjab capital of Chandigarh. She has also spent a bit of time in Australia, where she moved to at the age of 26. 

She initially worked as a taxi driver as well. Now, she is a frontline officer in road policing, family violence, investigation support, neighbourhood policing and community policing. She has even formed a New Zealand Police Bhangra-dancing group, which performed in their Police uniforms at Aotea Square’s Diwali festival last year. 
 
Mandeep’s religion is a big part of her life and she regularly also worships at Gurudwara. She has defied all odds to join the police force as she had faced a lot of social stigmas, and the fact that she belonged to a conservative family, which made her journey all the more difficult. However, now, as a community relations officer, Mandeep has attended a host of programmes and community meetings in the past decade. Her role involves attending community meetings, hosting media programmes, visiting family violence victims and attending to any other matters where there is a need for ethnic or cultural advice.

(Image: Twitter)