Previous Event: 13th September 2012
Many Hats of Policing
The integrity of your work is important
Shari Allison
Inspector, Harbourside LAC
Shari gave a very interesting and informative talk outlining her career path and experiences in the NSW police force starting with her initial training at the police academy in Goulburn. She donned the appropriate police uniform hat whenever she spoke about a new assignment.
Shari joined the NSW Police Force in 1989 and worked in general duties at Kings Cross, Cootamundra and Tweed Heads police stations. In 1996 she was a team leader with the Security Team Program for the Atlanta Olympics, where she worked with many agencies: international law enforcement officers, private security, International Olympic Committee staff (IOC), and managed volunteers. In 1999 she transferred to Professional Standards Command where she remained until 2010 in various roles. For the 2000 Sydney Olympics she was part of the Marine Security Team in support of security of athletes, sailing venues and Sydney Harbour. In 2003 she was recruited as an intelligence analyst to work on the Western Australian Police Royal Commission into Corruption or Criminal Conduct.
Throughout her career she has learnt how importance it is to be resilient and to, “Turn every ‘no’ into an opportunity. Learn how to overcome obstacles, and when faced with situations don’t make assumptions, rather clarify things“.
From her many and varied work experiences she has recognised that, “You are not responsible for what people think about you, but you are responsible for what you give them to think about you”, and “The integrity of your work is important, avoid confusion, be professional, ditch any emotional baggage” and “it is not a weakness to ask for help”.
She mentioned four vital steps which have assisted her namely:
1) CREATE YOUR INTENTION: Make a decision about what it is you want and how you’re going to achieve this- Visualise this
2) PREPARATION: Create a logical pathway from where you are to where you expect to get. Make plans. Write it down. Read them often
3) COURAGE: Take a leap of faith. There is a comfort zone for everyone that needs to be breached in order to make dreams become real. Say yes to opportunities… Doors- when a door opens walk right through with head held high, if it is slammed in your face figure out a way to open it and get through it.
4) PERSISTENCE (Hard Work, Hard Work & more Hard work
In addition, she conveyed some “Top Tips”,
- Be Confident
- provide Leadership–
- balance Work /Life For example; proper diet / exercise both for the mind and the physical body, diarise tasks daily
- Happiness is not about getting what you want. It’s about appreciating what you have and acknowledging your own achievements and
- Network develop bonds
In conclusion she provided the following quote” “I’ve learned that People will forget what you said
People will forget what you did… But People will never forget how you made them feel”
Maya Angelou
Q & A session followed. Shari was asked a wide range of questions about the police force extending from the past to present times. She gave us an insight into the extensive scope of issues involved with police work, with much of this work often calling for making split-second decisions in difficult situations.