Normanton Senior Police Liaison Officer celebrated

PLOs perform a specialist role within the Queensland Police Service.

Their role is diverse and includes liaising with culturally specific communities to foster co-operation and understanding and advising police on the cultural beliefs, needs and protocols of the community.

This is Katrina’s story.

I am 45 years old and I was born and bred in Normanton. I come from two traditional groups, Kurtijar and Tagalaka. Kurtijar is from Normanton and Tagalaka is from Croyden.

I have two kids, Kahlem (16) and Shantee (20) and I also have a nephew in my care, Marcus (15).

I am a Sergeant with the Australian Defence Force and I have three roles: Local Observer Element Officer, member of Army Indigenous Cultural Advisory Board and Patrol Commander for Patrol 45, which oversees Normanton and Doomadgee Soldiers.

I’m also in the process of establishing Army Cadets in Normanton as well, that should be all up and ready to proceed by 2020.

I joined the Queensland Police Service (QPS) on September 29, 2014. I remember the date, because it was National Police Remembrance Day. I had worked at the Normanton Police and Community Youth Clubs (PCYC) for four and a half years prior to that.

I finished work on September 27 at the PCYC and started as a PLO on September 29. I had various roles before that, Indigenous sport and recreation officer, Youth at Risk Initiative officer, pool life guard and activity officer.

I decided to leave, because  I needed a full time position. I’d had experience with the law, as I’d been a relieving Field Officer with Legal Aid, so I knew court procedures. I needed a change and I wanted a full time position, so I applied to become a PLO.

I was very happy when my application was successful. To apply, you needed to know a bit about the law side and because I’m a traditional owner, I have that knowledge. I’d also lived here all my life, so I had a lot of knowledge to share with police.

As a PLO, some of my best experiences were going to Brisbane and doing my PLO training, because I got to meet PLOs from different areas like Palm Island, Innisfail, Cairns, Wujal Wujal and Torres Strait Island. I’ve enjoyed learning more about the law side and what my role brings to the community and the police.

Some of the really tough things about being a PLO is when there are fights in the community, or suicides or things like that. It can be hard because this is my home town, the people in Normanton are my family.

To become a Senior PLO, we have two years to do an assessment, which contains a lot of assessment in relation to the duties of being a PLO. I had to do my Certificate II in Community Engagement and a Certificate III in Police Liaison Officer.

On September 29 last year,  I officially became a Senior PLO. It was the proudest moment and now I’m going to be able to work with the next PLO and show them what I’ve learned over the years.

In the next ten years I hope I’m still a PLO, but I might even look at becoming a sworn officer one day.