Retired police officer Cathy reminisces about good old days

By GLORIA BAUAI
WHEN Cathy Dobb left her home in Wewak, East Sepik in 1971 to be trained as a teacher, she never dreamt that she would become a police officer, reaching the rank of Chief Inspector, and serving overseas on a peacekeeping mission.
“I will forever be indebted to the (police) force because it saved me when I was going through a hard time in my life.”
Chief Inspector Dobbs, or Madam Dobb as she was affectionately referred to by her colleagues, retired nine years ago and now lives a quiet life in Madang.
After leaving Wewak, she attended the Goroka Teachers College for two years before serving as a teacher for six years in Morobe and Mt Hagen.
“At that time, my husband had left us. My boy was only five months old. My daughter was 2.5-years-old.”
She switched careers when she came across a police recruitment drive.
“I (changed careers for) security reasons and figured it would be easier if I was in the force, I’d be able to look after myself and the children. I also thought that with the police, I could help other women in my situation.”
Cathy was one of the first six local women to undergo the six-month police training at Bomana. They passed out on Dec 17, 1977 as the first PNG policewomen.
Because of her teaching background, she became the first policewoman instructor in 1979. In 1999, she was posted to the Madang police station as its first female police station commander.
In 2009, Dobb was promoted to be in charge of the traffic police unit in Lae.
In 2012, she was chosen to head a 10-man police team on a Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI). She returned in 2013 and retired, aged 55.
Looking back, she misses the level of discipline and productivity among police officers.
“Compared to our days, I see so much has changed in the force – in a negative way – and it saddens me. People have lost trust and confidence in the police. It comes down to how the police interact with the people.”
She recently watched the General Election 2022 operations for the Madang Open seat, and poured out her heart on police conduct and work.
“A police station is a place where we enforce the law and the uniform gives us the power to enforce it, so that respect must be there. But looking at young officers these days, discipline has dropped so much. You see police officers with beards, stained teeth and chewing betel-nut openly, who get drunk while in uniform, or drinking in police vehicles while on duty.
“This behaviour starts at the top and comes down. When you don’t apply discipline through the police code of conduct at the top level, everything else down the line falls apart.”

“ When you don’t apply discipline through the police code of conduct at the top level, everything else down the line falls apart.”

Retired CI Cathy recalls her days in supervisory positions when she enforced little things such as neatness, grooming and punctuality.
“These are important because it’s how all issues and challenges are professionally addressed and enforced within ourselves. This job is about discipline and we must always stand out from the average citizen. It’s worrying to see that the police force has become like any another occupation or organisation.”
She wishes that they had more manpower, vehicles and better technology then.
“We had to work on our public relation with the community. I particularly valued our relationship with members of the security forces. We respect them and had an understanding that they would always be on standby to assist us.”
She has watched officers she trained make it up the ladder in the constabulary.
She looks up to Deputy Police Commissioner Joanne Clarkson as her hero, and her son Inspector Joel Simatab, who is with the National Fraud and Anti-Corruption Directorate, as her “biggest blessing” for her service and loyalty to the force.
Although retired, she is always ready to assist the police in an advisory role.
“If the RPNGC is serious about restoring its image, we can be engaged as their resource people to guide them with planning and management.”
Just so passionate about police work.