Mundijong Police Station welcomed recent police graduate Karen Spinelli to the team on January 16.
Ms Spinelli graduated from the WA Police Academy on January 12 and said it was something she had wanted to do for a very long time.
“It came to the point where I had to either make the decision to apply or not,” she said.
“I was going to do it or I wasn’t.”
Ms Spinelli said she did not come from a background in policing and no one in her family was on the force but it was a job she had been passionate about for a long time prompting her to send in her application to the academy.
Ms Spinelli described the 28 weeks of her course as demanding and challenging but something she enjoyed.
“It’s broken up into different sections,” she said.
“The legal section which is first up and is pretty intense straight away.
“You also learn to use force, tasers and your glock.
“There are also physical components to the course as well and I ended up doing the beep test at least half a dozen times.”
Ms Spinelli said the course felt like a journey where she found out her strengths and weaknesses.
“I learned so much about myself,” she said.
“WAPOL has been very encouraging especially towards women.
“We’ve got the 100 year celebrations for women in policing coming up and they are pushing for more women to be involved.”
A former Roleystone High School student Ms Spinelli said she knew the south east metro region and was happy when she was assigned to Mundijong Police Station.
“Everyday is different and that’s what makes the job so special,” she said.
“Mundijong is a great place to start your career and I couldn’t have asked for a better station to walk into.
“To any women out there who want to get into policing I’d tell them to go for it and give it a go.”
