AFTER almost three decades policing in the Northern Territory, there is little retiring Superintendent Megan Rowe has not witnessed.
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As she prepared to bid farewell to life in uniform last week, she invited the Katherine Times into her office to reflect on her career and how the job had changed since she was a cadet in 1986.
“I did my recruit training at the ‘cockroach castle’ on Cavenagh Street, where the [Travelodge Mirambeena Resort] is now,” she laughed.
“We were the last squad … that went through there.”
Policing was definitely not a lifelong calling for Supt Rowe and she explained that a chance encounter at a Gold Coast party made her consider it as an option.
“I was on the Gold Coast as a sales rep for a building supply company,” she said.
“I went to a party and there was this ex-Northern Territory Police guy there who said that they were looking for female officers up here.
“Six months later, I was in Darwin, running up a hill and asking myself that the hell I had done.”
That was probably the most satisfying part of my entire career.
- Superintendent Megan Rowe
During her career, Supt Rowe has served across the NT in a number of roles, including intelligence, forensic science and professional standards, but she had no hesitation in pinpointing her work in helping convict the man who murdered British backpacker Peter Falconio near Barrow Creek in 2001 as the highlight.
“I worked on the Falconio case, basically from the beginning, right through to the end of the trial, and I was in the Supreme Court when the jury handed back its verdict on [Bradley Murdoch],” she said.
“That was probably the most satisfying part of my entire career.
“I keep in contact with the Falconio family over in Britain and I touch base with them once every 12 months or so, because there’s always something about Falconio or Murdoch in the media.
“It stirs it up for them, because they think about him every day.”
When asked what had changed most during her career, she acknowledged that police responsiveness to crime, especially domestic violence, had put a lot more pressure on officers.
Supt Rowe added that she viewed her colleagues as the most important weapons in the policing arsenal.
“The best thing we have is our people,” she said.
“It’s a great job and police don’t get a lot of praise, but those constables out there work their butts off.”
