1 (DOOR SLAMS) (DOG BARKS) All right, get out! Get out! Protecting us from crime nationwide. You can go. (MAN GROANS) (BLEEP) (INDISTINCT RT CHATTER) This way! For the more than 1700 female police officers,... We'll be here all day. ...every day brings them face-to-face with danger. (MAN SHOUTS) Can you just show some respect, please? These streets are tough,... Don't tell people you're gonna kill 'em, then. ...so they need to be tougher. RT: People running for their lives. (BLEEP)! Police-dog handler. Come out now! They reckon there might be kids in there. (DRAMATIC MUSIC) (BEEPING) That was bluntly red. All I smell is bacon. Can you please show some` Oi, show some respect. You're not gonna be on. They're gonna cut ya. (LAUGHS) (ROCK MUSIC) Copyright Able 2017. In Avondale, just west of Auckland City, Constable Telisha Kumar has been called to a suspected burglary. RT: Just crossing, uh, by, uh` It's a crate that... Eagle, the police chopper, spots some guys who look like they could be up to a bit of mischief not far from the scene. Couple of units had already been dispatched and had already been talking to the kids, but we went along anyway. And there was two kids that weren't being spoken to. So I got out and spoke to one of them, and my partner spoke to another one. What's happened tonight? Nothing. Nothing. So how come`? We've just been walking around. How come all these guys are talking to you, then? Huh? How come all these cops are talking to you guys? I dunno. It's cos they said the chopper was following us. I was, like, 'Eh?!' The guy I'm speaking to is really chilled. He's quite happy. (CHUCKLES) And he was willing to give me his details to see if he was OK, and it was` Yeah, he was fine. While one gentleman is more than happy to have a yarn, his mate isn't having a bar of it. What? What's your name? What's your name? I'm Darius. Yeah, and what's your badge` What's your badge number? (PEOPLE CHATTER INDISTINCTLY) What do you mean, 'Why I talk like this?' Because... (BLEEP) brought me up. Oi! My name's Telisha. Do you not trust me? If I tell you I haven't been in trouble with youse guys lately` I trust you. I trust you, but I gotta make sure you don't have any warrants. I've been in a lot of situations where people have been aggro, and then just me being there, kind of has helped the situation to calm down. I don't need to talk to this this mother-(BLEEP) officer. OK. Can you respect him, please? Show some` Oi, show some respect. All I smell is bacon. Egos are all going high. So, normally, you know, if I come along or, you know, if another female comes along, that normally does help the situation. Go back to your friends there. Come on. There you go. Thank you, Mrs Officer. Thank you. See you later. Sergeant. Yeah, I've been Q` He's been QP'd. He's all good. She's a good lady, isn't she? Yeah, she took care of me, unlike that dude who just, like, forced me` Well, you were being belligerent. ...tried to harass me. OK. Come on. Most men do listen to the... (LAUGHS) females, you know, cos they don't really wanna` They don't wanna hurt us. The youths are given the all-clear and sent on their way. Even our shouty friend has changed his tune. BOYS: Ooh! # Mrs Officer, Mrs Officer. (LAUGHS) Do you`? Are you a student? # Tell your lieutenant get them cuffs off of her. # Oh, you're bad, eh (?) (BLEEP) not illegal. Keep walking. Go on. West side (BLEEP). You're all good. 'I am kinda lucky, me being Indian, that, 'culturally, cos people just` They just see the colour of my skin, you know,' and they don't actually know if I'm Indian or what. And they're just like, 'Oh, you know, 'like, I've been to jobs where, oh, you know, you're` you're one of us. 'You're` You're my sister. Oh, I'll speak to you,' kinda thing. Definitely, it's helped being a female Indian in the job. (UPBEAT MUSIC) So, we're just making mathiya at the moment. It's a bit of a` It's` It's not sweet; it's savoury. It's a spicy savoury. I call myself Kiwi Indian. I'm born in New Zealand. My mum's born in New Zealand, but her parents were born in India, and my Dad, he's born and grew up in Fiji. So, Mum and I cook together sometimes. On the special occasions, like Diwali and stuff, we cook together, cos I don't actually know how to cook anything like that. We're learning. You're learning. (LAUGHS) Slowly, I'm learning. So, when I tell people that I'm a cop, they always just laugh at me. (LAUGHS) Mm. And the sauce. Fair enough. You don't really picture an Indian girl being a cop. I don't actually care that they laugh at me or they get a shock. It's just, like, proving to someone that you can do something. People always think you can't do anything, you know. And they always think that, oh, you might not be able to play well; you might not be able to speak well; you might not be able to do this. Or, you know, people always think that about everyone. So when someone gets shocked that I'm in the police, I'm just like, 'Yeah,' like, you know, 'I am.' (LAUGHS) With just an hour and a half left of her graveyard shift, Telisha is called to a suspected drunk driver. I'll get the drink out of the car. So, we've just had someone call us up saying that there's a car blocking their driveway. Um, they've gone to see who's in the car, and they've seen two men sleeping. They tapped on the window, and the guys weren't responding. So they called us to come and wake them up and move them along. Yeah, blow in the tube until I say stop. (BEEPING) Put your lips` You gotta wrap your lips around the tube, and then blow until I say stop. I just was sleeping in there. I didn't drive. Yeah, I don't care, just` Yeah, OK, put your lips around the tube. No, no, no, no. It appears our sleeping driver isn't too excited about cooperating. (BEEPING) Keep going, keep going, keep going. Stop. Now, that wasn't hard, was it? OK, over 400. So, you know what that means? I was just parking there. Yeah. Yeah. So that's still driving. That's driving. That's still driving, OK? So now, because you've blown` How do you know I was driving it? BOTH: Because you just told us that you parked the car there. OK. After digging his grave with his own mouth, the drowsy driver is required to accompany Telisha back to the station. But he has no problem letting her know he's not impressed. No, leave it open. Don't close it on them. (CHUCKLES) It's not funny. No it's not. To deal with people that are rude and that don't listen to us, you kinda, just, talk to, kind of... like, you just gotta show authority. He just wants to go to the toilet. MAN: OK. It's just over there. Can you take him? Come through. Yeah, go with him. It's starting to look like this man is in no rush to get home. He's gonna try and delay it, but it's just making it worse. He should just hurry up and get it over and done with. Wise words, but the driver isn't interested in taking them on board. You have to go through the procedure. Oh, no. Yes, you do, unfortunately. And like many who have gone pointlessly before him, this man continues to do his best to squirm out of it. What does that mean? What? You are required to undergo an evidential breath test without delay. So, it's this machine over here. You have to do that. After making Telisha repeatedly read his bill of rights,... What does that mean? (SIGHS) I already explained that to you. ...a long and tedious phone call to a lawyer,... and two toilet stops,... Could I go to the toilet? ...his excuses have almost run out,... much like Telisha's patience. I just don't understand why he was going, 'It's cold,' and he's blowing into his hand. I was boiling in my jumper. Yeah, you can speak to your lawyer after we've done this test, OK? Because this one is for the` MAN: No, no, no. So, now this is gonna start. You can speak to a lawyer after. Keep going. No. OK, stop, stop, stop. With that guy, he had gone through the, um, drink-driving procedure before. Keep blowing. Blow, blow, blow. Stop. When you blow, you gotta blow hard. So he knew what was coming for him, and I think that's why he was just taking his time. Keep going, keep going, stop. (COUGHS) You might have to do it again. And he thought, you know, he could get away with` with just not having to come back with me or not having to do the test. But it doesn't work like that, and he found out. Keep going, keep going, now stop. Now, that's how you're supposed to do it. That's exactly how you're supposed to do it, OK? Because I'm first time` Look. Look at your result. It's 358. OK? Yeah, yeah. Bad news ` you're getting a ticket... for drink driving. 'The new limit is that if it's between 250 and 400,' then he gets fined $200 and he gets 50 demerit points. But my copy. Yeah, that's your copy to keep. But why? Souvenir, so you don't do it again. And if he does get it again, he'll get another 50 demerit points, and that means he'll lose his licence for three months. Yeah, call` call them outside. It does take a long time to test my patience, cos I'm very.... I` I feel like I'm too nice. (LAUGHS) Like, I always just give them a little extra time. No, you wait out here. OK? It's clear to see that Telisha's time for this drowsy driver has well and truly run out. I don't get angry at people. (LAUGHS) He just` He made me angry. (LAUGHS) 1 (UPBEAT MUSIC) It's peak rush hour in Mangere, 8am,... as busy Auckland commuters make their way to the central city for work. Rush hour for Mangere is... busy ` a lot of people walking, kids walking to school. Today Constable Anne Napara is heading out on bail checks. Even so, her eyes are always peeled for road-safety offences. If we see any red-light runners, I'm gonna give a ticket today. MAN: Oh really? No seatbelts,... you're gonna get a ticket today. Oh, well, we'll see. Have you got a ticket book? If they pass in... No, I can post the ticket. (LAUGHS) Mangere is not only Anne's place of work; it's the city she's called home since moving from the Cook Islands over 15 years ago. I live with my mum and dad. Yes, still with Mum and Dad. And my daughter. ALL: # ...the whole world in his hands. # My daughter, she's 6 years old. She's my little angel. Yep, she's the reason why I wake up in the morning and go to work and... (SIGHS) work hard for her. Yep, that's us. (BEEPING, SIREN WAILS) That was bluntly red. At the peak of Mangere's rush hour, Anne has just spotted her first red-light turner of the day. All right. We'll have a word with this gentleman, or the driver. Um, he's just gone through a red light, uh, back at the intersection on Buckland Rd. Clearly red. It wasn't orange; it was clearly red. So we'll go and see` Have a chat to him, see what he's got to say. Do you know the reason why I pulled you over? MAN: Cos the light turned orange? The light was red. Clearly red! Yes. It was red. It was clearly red. All right? Even going through on an orange light, you` You can't go through an orange light. The car right behind me` What was that? No,... (STUTTERS) you had enough time to stop. Done a check on his` on his vehicle and on him on the system, and he comes back as a` a clean skin. Never been in trouble with the police, but there's no excuse for going through a red light. I hate to give out a ticket, but because it was clearly, it was clearly red, all right? And, um, there's` It's a busy intersection here, and there's a lot of cars, and if a car came through, you would've` with your big massive vehicle, you would've, um, wiped 'em out. Why are you smiling? (CHUCKLES) You know, it's not just about giving people tickets; it's actually educating them as well, on the usage of the road ` that it's not only them what is using the road. It could kill somebody else, and... (BREATHES DEEPLY) I say that because, uh, my nephew was actually hit on that` on that road where we stopped the car. And, um, he was in a coma for a co` for a couple of months. Um, and, um... So that is, um... Yeah, road... Uh, I mean, red lights... I don't have... sympathy. It actually happened when I was working. I was just around the corner when I heard it over the radio. At the time, I was, like, 'No, it can't be. It can't be.' Until later on, I actually... My partner took me to the scene, and that's when I found out it was my nephew. I'd` I was kinda` I went blank, um, as humans do, um, whether you're in` in or out of uniform. Yeah... (SIGHS) lost, really. ALL: # ...hine rangimarie. # Ko te Whaea... # Against all odds, Anne's nephew did survive. His rehabilitation is going well. He's back at school and playing sport. My nephew is doing well. It's a big difference from, um, being told at the scene that he's not gonna make it. Who's the only grandchild that's born somewhere else? CHILDREN: Me! Me! Me! 'People who have never lost anyone in a car accident, they don't really get it until it happens to them.' And I do tell them, 'Look, not only my family member, but I've been to accidents where we've had to, um` 'like, someone's died there, or a young person's crossed the road and died there.' And as soon as I say that, then they're kind of, like, 'Oh, OK, it does really happen.' Make sure, please, next time be very careful, um, especially at intersections like that. OK? So, I will post you a ticket. Drive safely. No worries, miss. Cool. (LAUGHS) Have a good day. I hate it when they say, 'Oh, why don't you go and catch real criminals out there, 'instead of doing this, pulling us over? Haven't you got better things to do?' It's, like, well, actually, um, if you were in my shoes, and if you had your own` someone close to you go through` get hit by a car, I don't think you'd be saying that to me. You know, preventing` saving someone else's life, that's` that's the main thing. So no, I don't have any mercy for people who go through red lights. 1 You're not gonna be on. They're gonna cut ya. (LAUGHS) Ohhh. Is that cut? MAN: Yup. Do we cut that? Your mum ` think about your mum, eh? So, my primary role within the police is the Alcohol Harm Prevention unit. Oh my goodness. Look at that guy. What's he, sort of, doing there? Under the old act, it was more about, um, reducing liquor abuse, where now it is about reducing harm. Your mate, she's mothered. How are you getting her out of the city? Taxi. Any harm that comes from alcohol, so indirectly or directly. I wanna get your friend out of the city, otherwise she's gonna get in trouble. 'So that's where my primary role is.' I've been in that role for eight years now. You become a certain specialist in it. So it's a $250 fine for breaching the liquor ban. And you knew about it, cos you hid it from me as well. Have you got some ID? (FUNKY MUSIC) (CHUCKLES) Classic. As well as alcohol harm prevention, Bridget has two other roles within the police. We've got a round-robin-type exercise today. We've got a decomposing mannequin that we will do the recovery for. She's a member of the Disaster Victim Identification team, a highly trained specialist squad. And in her spare time, she's been a volunteer for LandSAR for over 10 years ` Ditch on the left. ...a role where she relies on the assistance of her LandSAR Search and Rescue dog. (UPBEAT MUSIC) So, Zinzan, he was a civilian Search and Rescue dog. So, he's my own dog, trained by me. (ROCK MUSIC) Bit fresh. So, he was six years` six years operational, or coming into his sixth year when he died. (SOMBRE MUSIC) (CHUCKLES) What a shocker, yeah. But he was such a hard dog that going out the way he did, which was, like, running really hard, knocked his head, then died, was actually like a` If you had to go, for that kinda dog, that was probably the way to go, because he was` He wasn't the sort of dog that was gonna take retirement well. Lying around the house wasn't an option for him. So as sad as it was, uh, to lose an operational dog,... um, it is actually probably good that he went the way he did. Seven weeks after Zinzan's sudden death, Bridget is at Auckland Airport to pick up some precious cargo. I can hear him. 'So, we're picking up the new little Auckland Search and Rescue dog.' Uh, he is 7� weeks old, so` and he's come up from Palmerston North. So I haven't seen him before, first meeting, and, uh, very excited. (BARKING) Hey. I think that's, um, my one that's making that noise. (LAUGHS) Waiting for you. I'll bring him out. Awesome. OK, cool. As of last night, it's Vader, which is, uh, Darth Vader. Yeah, so, we needed a strong name so if you were lost in the bush you would think, um, 'Vader is coming to find me.' So, it wouldn't be, like, 'Fluffy's coming, and he might not get me.' (LAUGHS) Hello! Whatcha doing? Hey! Look at the state of you. Oh my goodness, look at you. Look at you. You're in Auckland. Yes. What a long trip up, hey? (LAUGHS) (SOFT UPBEAT MUSIC) There we go. There we go. OK! Look at you, you little fatty. You're a fatty boomba. Hello! Hello! I really like him, yeah. It was` It was funny, cos I was a little bit sad coming out here, cos of Zinzan, and now you get the pup, and it's like, man, phew! That's gone. I'm gonna, you know,... (LAUGHS) start new, so it's really cool. And he's carrying on now. I can hear him in the car, but I like that. I like that he's got that in him. Yeah, it's good. Pup, pup, pup. Good boy. Pup, pup, pup. (MAKES KISSING SOUND) Good boy. My son's very excited. He's been with working dogs pretty much all his life, but with little, um, Shepherds, they're kinda feisty. So I thought I'd buy some shin pads for him and just wrap his shins up. (LAUGHS) So he doesn't feel it when they latch on. Oh he's a solid one, isn't he? I bought this, um, little puppy cage, uh, but I think he might be, um, in that for only` for transport for today. It's uh... He's` He's a little unit! You're gonna be a big boy. How are we gonna lift you over fences? Hey? How are we gonna lift you over those fences? 'Within the police, there's so many different areas that you could go,' and they definitely make you who you are. You know that old thing, like, oh, 'Better work stories.' But it's quite true ` you do have some really cool work stories. (CHUCKLES) What's that? What's that? I enjoy the unknown. I enjoy the... sometimes, the chaos, and then, um, making it turn OK. That's` I like that too. And you get that in the police. Fact ` people die. Fact ` when someone dies, what makes them real, makes them human, goes with them. I know this to be true from the hours that I spent sitting with my wife in the days after she died.