Maitland’s newest cop on the beat is an indigenous Australian man who spent his early adult life as a labourer and construction worker.
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Probationary Constable Garth Mercy, 37, clocked on for work at Maitland police station for the first time yesterday and said he looked forward to serving his new community.
Probationary Constable Mercy entered the force through the IPROWD program that helps Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people get into the force.
He and his family have moved from their home town of Lismore.
“I asked to come here, I wanted to come because I liked the area,” he said.
He said he looked forward to the change that police work would bring from his former life in construction.
Probationary Constable Mercy was one of 170 new recruits sent to commands across the state this week after they graduated from NSW Police Academy at Goulburn on Friday.
He is one of only two graduates aged between 36 and 40 and one of 13 new police who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.
While Probationary Constable Mercy said he always wanted to become a police officer, he had put off his dream to start a family.
But now that dream was becoming a reality.
He will complete 12 months of on-the-job training before he is promoted to the rank of constable.
Leading Senior Constable Kathie Petheram, his training officer, said the process would involve learning how
to adapt to different situations that police faced and how to juggle paper work.
“He’s always had the drive but the logistics with a family meant that this is just the right time for him,” she said.
“He’s done the hard yards because the academy is not easy.
“The whole process [probation] takes about 12 months to see if he’s capable of jumping through the hoops.
“If he is, then he will be made a constable of police.”